Burning Flame
by Jadeturtle
Summary: A new case, and a client that Naru knew from his past; With a Fire from the past comming back to finish the job that it had not compleated, can Naru save Mai from the trouble that tends to find her? Final Installment to the Trilogy. Read in this order: The Unseen, Broken, Burning Flame
1. Chapter 1 the meeting

**_If you have not read them yet, I suggest that you read my other stories before this one, though if you insist on not reading them, that is fine as well. the other stories are called, "The Unseen" and "Broken" This will most likely be the last of this series. ENJOY. :D_**

**I do not own ghost hunt!**

* * *

Chapter One

(the past... not Mai's vision)

_"Fire!"_

_Came a cry which could be heard throughout the small village. The only light had been from the ivory colored moon, which now was being covered by dark black smoke._

_"Mother!" Came a quiet cry, barely heard over the sounds of the police sirens._

_**"Your mother is not here boy!"** said a menacingly evil voice though no one besides the young boy heard it._

_The young boy coughed and let out a silent cry, "I can't breath." silently getting out of his bed, the boy crawled on the floor towards his bedroom door.'I need to get out of here.' he thought to himself._

_**"If I were you I would not open that door."** An evil voice laughed._

_The boy looked at the bottom of the door. Light from the fire licked its way towards him. Backing away from the door, the boy cried out again. His lungs burned like the fire that threatened to consume him and his room._

_"I DON'T UNDERSTAND." He yelled to the unseen voice._

_The ghostly voice only laughed._

_"WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN HEAR YOU? i THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS." the boy yelled out again pleadingly._

_**"You thought wrong!" **the voice said with a deep angered tone._

_The boys body was thrown viciously out of his bedroom window. With his eyes still wide open, the dead boys eyes shown the horrors around him. Everywhere in the town, Fires were burning throughout the small town. A strong wind blew through the trees of the surrounding forest which had been completely untouched by the flames that were desperately trying to destroy any and everything in the town. _

**(Begin Ghost Hunt Theme Music.)**

**~Ten Years Later~**

Mai sat at her desk tapping her pen repeatedly on the desk. Her head was resting on her left arm. Mai stared at a picture on the wall with blind eyes. Mai was bored. It seemed as if Naru had decided to punish Mai for her and Genes last practical joke by giving her an unusually high amount of work. Ever since the last case, Mai felt that something was different with Naru. She could not tell what it was though. It was as though he had gained a softness in his eyes. Mai sighed, it was the same softness that she had seen when she had first confessed to him. Though that softness also had a hint of sadness in it as well. Naru had turned her down saying that it was not he who Mai had loved but Gene. Mai laughed at that. She saw Gene as a brother and nothing more than that. Mai remembered telling Gene about what Naru had said. Gene had become pretty angry at what Naru had said saying that the next time he saw Naru he would knock some sense into his brain. He had gone on mumbling something about Naru not understanding his true feelings. Mai had no clue what he was talking about at that point. As far as Mai was concerned Naru was a troll who had no human feelings. But, that did not mean that she did not still have feelings for him. Mai let out a loud grown banging her pen down onto her desk at the same time as her head.

"Mai, You will not gain any brain cells by Hitting your head against the desk. In fact, you probably would lose them." Came the annoyingly calm voice of her boss.

"SHUT UP YOU NARSISITIC PIG OF A BOSS!" Mai yelled at the young man who stood in front of her.

"See, it seems as though you have already lost the ability to tell the difference between human and Animal." Naru deadpanned before placing his black jacket on.

"No, I was referring to the large amount of Tea you digest. Almost like a pig eating slop." Mai said she unknowingly rubbed the sore red spot that was forming on her forehead.

Naru let out a soft laugh which Mai could not hear.

Mai paused before continuing her topic of speech.

"And, If I may ask of the tea loving pig, when did you become so interested in constantly making my life so difficult?" Mai watched as Naru turned his back towards her and headed back towards his office.

"Mai, Tea!" Naru said before closing his door.

"AURGH!" Mai said hitting her head back down onto her desk causing her already sore head to hurt even more. 'I HATE THAT TEA LOVING JERK.' though Mai knew deep down, she for some strange unknowing reason loved him. 'WHY DOES LIFE HAVE TO BE SO COMPLICATED?

As Mai stood up to go and make the tea, a knock on the door brought her out of her inner tirade at herself. Mai sighed and walked towards the door while still rubbing her sore forehead. Opening the door Mai looked at the man who stood in front of her. Naru had told her that there was going to be someone coming by today for a meeting. When he had told her that it was someone who could be considered important, Mai had tried to think of who it might be. The fact that Naru had accepted the client for a meeting himself was interesting in itself.

The man was short and kind of on the heavy side. His clothes were really... expensive looking... Saying that the guy was important would be an understatement. Though, Mai had no clue who he was.

"Hello, welcome Shibuya Psychic Research. How can I help you?" Mai said with a smile. Her smile quickly began to fade with the look that the man was giving her. It was a look of pure and utter disgust. "Um... let me go and get my boss for you." Mai said with a dissolving smile.

Turning her back from the client Mai headed towards Naru's office. She quickly knocked on the door and waited for Naru to open the door.

"What?" Naru said with a quick and even tone.

"Um... you have a client." Mai turned from her boss and headed towards Lins room. She did not know why, but she had a very uneasy feeling about the man who was waiting for them in the front office.

"Lin, we have a client." Mai said before turning to leave.

"Mai..." Mai stopped, 'that's different' Mai thought she turned to look at Lin who was standing up and gathering his laptop computer.

"Yes?" Mai asked.

"Its probably best if you stay in the kitchen. You can bring the tea but afterwords go back to the kitchen. Do you understand?" Mai was shocked. Why was Lin warning her.

"Okay." Mai said then left for the kitchen. There were two reasons for why she had not argued with Lin. One, if it had been Naru to warn her then she would have argued. She would never agree to anything Naru said. Mostly because she found it fun to get on his nerves. the other reason though for why she did not ask why she could not be in the room was because she did not want to. There was something about this client that scared her. Mai did not know what, but it felt like if she stayed near him she could lose her own life.

* * *

Naru walked into the front room where the client was standing staring out the window of their office.

"Tsubasa Hotaru..." Naru said with an even tone.

"Ah... Oliver, how long has it been?" Hotaru said with an fake grin on his face.

"Not long enough." Naru whispered under his breath.

"What was that?" Hotaru asked with an angry flash in his eyes.

"So, how can I help you?" Naru asked sitting down and pulling out his notebook.

"Ah, I see that your the same as usual, straight to the business and no casual talk before hand right?" Mr. Tsubasa said with a calculating grin on his face.

"If there is nothing that I can help you with, I can have Lin show you where the door is Mr. Tsubasa." Naru deadpanned with his eyes closed.

"Very well. No point in taking our time. A fire has been repeatedly set around my town. I would like you to stop it from happening." Tsubasa said sitting down while intertwining his fingers.

"Last time I checked, I was not running a fire fighting business." Naru deadpanned again. Naru could not stand the man who was sitting in front of him. Naru had only met Tsubasa Hotaru (AKA Hotaru Tsubasa. Hotaru being first name Tsubasa being last name.) once before. It was while he and Gene had come to Japan to do some field study. Naru and Gene's father, Martin Davis, had been adamant in having his sons take cases to work on there powers. If one had to say who the boys got their love of ghost hunting from it would have to be their father. Their mother Luella Davis would have rather had them home where she could consider them to be safe. The boys had never really gotten along with Mr. Tsubasa mostly because of his high and mighty attitude towards them. To say that Tsubasa was a skeptic was an understatement.

"Yes, I know what you are and are not," Mr. Tsubasa replied curtly, "What I do know is that the citizens of my town are beginning to believe that this has to do with a fire that occurred ten years ago."

Mai took that moment to walk in with the tea. Naru watched as his assistant placed the tea down on the table and passed out cups. She was about to start pouring the tea when Hotaru grabbed her hand. A bit of the tea spilled from the tea pot and onto her hand causing her to grimace.

Naru quickly stood up to protest Tsubasa's actions when Tsubasa replied with a fake apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, should have gone slower, I will take my tea with ice please."

Mai glared at the man who sat before her as though she was about to spout a rude comment at him.

"Mai, there is some ice in the refrigerator, get some for your hand as well." Naru said before Mai could say anything to there annoying client.

Mai stared at Naru, noticing that Naru seemed like he was livid with their client Mai decided that it would be best to actually listen to him this time. Grabbing Hotaru's cup again, Mai made her way towards the kitchen again. only pausing to see what the client was doing. It unnerved Mai to realize that the client was still watching her leave. Mai shook the evil presence that seemed to ebb off of the client away from her as she entered the kitchen to get the ice. 'Maybe I should put poison in his ice.' Mai thought. She laughed when she realized that she would usually keep that threat for her Narcissistic boss.

Naru glared at Tsubasa Hotaru. "If you don't get to your point quickly, I will not hesitate to throwing you out of my office." He said with a menacing tone while his face stayed as placed as ever.

"What an interesting assistant you have here. Kind of reminds me of Gene." Tsubasa grinned to see that he was getting on Naru's nerves. "As I was saying, a fire occurred ten years ago in our town. It destroyed half the town. It took a whole week just to put it out. What was surprising was that the fire did not touch a single tree of the surrounding forest. The reason I have come for your help, is not because I believe that it has anything to do with the paranormal. No, its far from that. If I had my way I would start a witch hunt for the pyromaniacs who keep starting the fires. The reason I am here, is because the citizens of my town believe that it is paranormal. They think it has to do with a boy, who may I add was a trouble maker from the beginning, died in the fire from ten years ago. As far as I am concerned, if I can have you come and not only prove that it is not paranormal but also get the pleasure of defaming you and your 'Shibuya Psychic Research' Group, as you like to call it. Then all the better for me." Tsubasa cleared his throat before standing up to take his leave. "As Mayor of Hosei Point I am now hiring you to come and figure out what the cause of the fires are. I will not take no as an answer. If you do decline I can easily make your life even more miserable then it already is. Have a good day sir." Tsubasa Hotaru quickly walked out of the front door.

Naru sighed wondering why his father had to have such an annoying acquaintance.

"So, are you going to take the job?" Lin asked setting his laptop down on the coffee table in front of him.

"I don't have much choice in the matter do I?" Naru stood up and was about to head back to his office when a loud crash came from inside the kitchen.

Naru's heart stopped for a moment. What could Mai have gotten herself into this time? Running into the kitchen Naru found Mai collapsed among the broken pieces of tea cups. Her hands were gripping at her head as though she was trying to squeeze the pain out of her head.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Naru asked as calmly as he could. On the inside his brain was going over all the worst possibilities that could be happening to his assistant. At this point, Naru could hear Gene yelling at him for trying to keep his facade up. Especially at a time like this.

Mai clenched her teeth in pain again, "IT HURTS... I'M BURNING!" Mai cried out then suddenly she went still.

Naru's face went pale as he thought the worst but when Lin came behind him and picked Mai off the floor, Naru could tell that she was still breathing.

"She's having a vision Noll, its best if she just sleeps it out, I'll clean up the mess after I put her on the couch." Lin walked out the kitchen door with Mai still in his arms. Naru stood up looking at the ground with his fists clenched. He hated the fact that he had been unable to do anything for Mai. He hated the fact that it took Lin to tell him to calm down and think. If this was what being in love meant then he did not know if he wanted it. He would rather want to protect Mai then have his feelings cloud his judgment.

'Then protect her.' Naru heard a voice say in his mind.

Ever sense Gene had left after being a cat, Naru would sometimes hear his brothers voice giving him his opinions. Naru was sure that it was not Gene himself talking to him. But he was quite sure that it would definitely be something that his brother would say to him.

Naru walked out the kitchen door to check up on Mai.

* * *

Mai woke up with Gene rubbing her back.

"It's okay Mai, open your eyes." Gene was gently trying to get Mai to sit up.

Mai could still feel the burning sensation moving across her body. It was not as intense as it had been but it was defiantly still there. Mai slowly opened her eyes to look at the blue eyes of Gene.

"Whats going on?" Mai asked, "I was not asleep when the vision began."

Gene nodded his head in understanding. "All I can say is that it might be because of your powers growing."

Mai nodded grimacing as another sharp burning pain shot through her body. "It feels as though I am burning alive." Mai said with tears starting to ebb out of her eyes.

"I know. You'll understand more when you know whats going on." Gene said.

"You seem to be back to your cryptic self again." Mai laughed with a hint of pain in her laugh.

Gene only smiled. "Come on, there is something you need to see. If we don't hurry, the pain could get worse."

Mai's horror filled eyes opened wider. She did not want to know how much more pain she could feel. Standing up slowly as to stretch out her aching joints, Mai looked at Gene, "So, where are we going?"

"We are not really going anywhere, I'm just showing you." Gene smiled.

Mai slightly smiled back as she could start to feel the pain come back in quicker tides.

"Watch." was all Gene said as Mai began to see the vision.

_Mai watches as a young boy, no older than eight, is sitting on his living room floor building a train set from scratch. With his tongue sticking out of his mouth, the boy attaches one of the wheels onto the train._

"Orion_!" a woman's voice calls towards the boy._

"_Coming Mother!" The boy who is now known as Orion calls out. Placing his unfinished train down on the ground._

_The boy walked into the kitchen where his mother stood with her hand holding a phone. She has her other hand over it to cover the mouth piece so that the person on the other side could not hear their conversation._

"_I have Mrs Mizuki Tai on the phone. She says that during class today she saw you talking to yourself. Whats going on?" The mother looked as though she was worried about her son._

_The boy tilted his head to the side as though confused, "I was not talking to myself I was talking to a boy." _

"_Please Orion, don't do this. Not now, we just moved here, don't you want to be able to stay?" The mother looked like she was deeply tired._

"_Don't do what? I really was talking to a boy." Orion looked as though he was becoming angry._

_The mother just sighed and put the phone back up to her ears. "I'm sorry Mrs Mizuki, It seems my son has an overactive imagination. I'll make sure that he does not cause anymore trouble." The mother hung up the phone and hung her head as though she was dead tired._

"_Mother, I'm not lying." Orion cried out with as much emphases on the Not as he could put._

"_Just go to your room Orion, I'm tired." the mother shook her head not wanting to deal with whatever fairy tales her son had concocted this time. _

"_But Mother..." Orion pleaded with sad eyes._

"_I SAID GO TO YOUR ROOM." the mother shouted._

_Orion just nodded and headed towards his room taking a last look at his lonely looking train set. Once he made it to his room, he shut his door with his back and slid down the door to sit on the floor in front of it._

"_She does not believe me." Orion said out loud._

"_I told you she wouldn't." a quiet but eerie voice said through the dark lighted room._

"_But, I thought she would this time." the boy said with a small tear falling from his cheek._

"_You don't have to worry about that now, there are more important things to worry about... a storm will arrive that will devastate the town. You don't have much time to stop it." the eerie voice said again this time with more force._

"_You keep talking about a storm but you never tell me what type." the boy said placing his chin to his crossed arms._

"_A fire storm. The fire will burn down the whole town." The voice said again._

_The boy just nodded as though he understood. "Tomorrow then." the boy said, "Tomorrow I will let the mayor know. Though I don't know if he will believe me. I'm only eight years old."_

_the voice only laughed._

"_I don't know what you find so funny." the boy said as though he was annoyed. _

Mai was being pulled out of the vision. She could now see Gene standing in front of her.

"What am I supposed to make of that vision?" she asked as though it was confusing to her.

"Just tell Noll." Gene said.

"Really, if there was anyone more cryptic than you I would not want to meet them." Mai said with amusement.

Gene just laughed. "Say hi to that idiot scientist for me. Tell him I'm waiting for him to finally go for it."

"Go for what?"

"See you later." Gene said before causing Mai's vision to start to blur.

"WAIT, YOU DID NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Mai shouted.

* * *

"What question." a soft voice deadpanned

Mai opened her eyes to see the blue eyes of Naru staring at her. Her head had been raised midway to a sitting position. She let her head fall back down as though annoyed at something that had just happened.

Naru watched as Mai took in a deep breath.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened or should I just go and get ready for the next case?" Naru asked with a calm but collecting voice.

"CASE?" Mai screamed.

"Mai, I'm right here, you don't have to yell." Naru said standing up and walking over to the window as though in deep thought.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU TOOK THE CASE!" Mai still yelled.

"Mai, your voice." Naru said putting his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

Mai took in a deep breath and calmed herself.

"Sorry, why did you take the case." She asked again.

"Tell me what happened in your dream?" Naru deviated.

Mai could tell that she was not going to get an answer from her boss.

"FINE THEN." She said angrily "Whatever this case has to do with, it involves a young boy who seems to have some type of paranormal powers. He was talking to a strange voice that was saying something about a fire storm. It seems to have something to do with the mayor as well." Mai paused trying to think if she missed anything, "Oh, his mom does not believe him though." Mai finished with a triumphant smile as though she had just stated something brilliant.

"Mai... tea..." was Naru's reply.

Mai was furious though she still did exactly as he had told her. "NARU YOU JERK!" she yelled storming off.

Naru smirked silently as he heard the door to Lin's room open.

"I see that she is okay now." Lin asked with a quiet look on his face.

Naru did not reply and headed towards his office. "Make sure that Mai calls the team. We will only need; Monk, Ayako, Father John, and Masako on this case."

"What about Yasuhara?" Lin asked again with the same quiet disposition.

"Yasuhara is out of town. Something about taking a summer job with Yatzu. He said that he would be back by the end of the summer." Naru said before closing the door to his room.

Lin sighed. 'I wonder how Naru will handle this case. Its obvious that he has realized his feelings for Mai now. I wonder if he will still be able to handle everything." Lin watched as Mai backed out of the kitchen so as to push the door open.

"Hey Lin, want some tea?" Mai smiled.

Lin let a small smile cross his face. Mai did not notice the smile though. "Yes." Lin said.

Mai only smiled again. "Your still as stoic as ever Lin." Mai handed Lin his tea then walked into Naru's room.

'Well, at least I am here to watch the both of them. They both seem to be getting into quite a lot of trouble lately.' Lin finished his thinking with a sigh and a sip of his tea.

* * *

A/N:

**Okay, so this is the first chapter of Burning Flame. (really horrible name...) I hope you like it. I will continue the story if you want me to. :D**

**If I do end up continuing the story, the next chapter might not be up for a while. It depends on how tired I am from the busy weeks I will be having. :)**

**ENJOY!**

**JT**


	2. Chapter 2 newspapers and articles

**A/N:**

_Sorry for the late chapter. Was very busy. I do have to say though; I was having a hard time writing this chapter. I had no clue how to start it. :D But luckily an idea came so I just went with it. I do have to say though; I like the first chapter better. This one is horrible. Oh well, the case will probably start in the next chapter._

_This chapter is dedicated to Ariana Taniyama for being the first replier._

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

'Leeks,'

Mai said to herself while carrying a shopping cart in her hands. Inside the shopping cart there were various groceries ready to be taken back to her apartment.

Mai groaned as her shopping cart got heaver by the minute. It was not that she was not strong. After having to carry heavy SPR equipment into many of the client's homes or business areas, Mai had found herself of lifting heavier items. At this moment though, she wanted nothing better to do then to rest her arms.

After having called the rest of the SPR team, in which she found out that Father John, would not be accompanying them for the case, Naru had forced Mai to sort through a huge pile of papers that were still packed in boxes. Mai wanted to kill whoever had placed the boxes in the office in the first place. They had not thought through how to place the boxes in on top of each other. The heavier boxes being placed on the top while the lighter boxes were placed on the bottom. Mai did have to wonder though if she would survive the fight with whoever this unknown person was. In order to place the boxes the way they did, they would have had to be very strong.

Mai sighed.

"Is there anything I can help you find Ms. Taniyama?" A mischievous voice asked from behind her.

"Since when did we start calling each other by our first names?" Mai asked with fake annoyance.

Mai had turned around to find Momoka Nara standing in front of her. Mai had known Nara as long as she had known the manager of the store. If the manager could be considered an adopted uncle, Nara would be her adoptive cousin. Momoka Nara was the daughter of the store manager and had found herself a job in her father's store. (Look back at the OMAKE for The Unseen. The manager was in that chapter. :D ) Every time Mai had come around to shop at their store, Nara would always sneak up on Mai at the most inconvenient times. If Mai had a knack for bringing danger towards herself, Nara had a knack of approaching people in bad moods and making them feel better about themselves.

"Hmm," Nara put her finger to her chin as though thinking very hard about something. "I know that we have known each other for a long time Mai, but I am no mind reader, what seems to be troubling you this time?" Nara smiled crossing her arms as though she had just put forth a very important conversation topic.

Mai opened her eyes wide in mock shock, "I don't know what you mean Nara, and you must be losing your insight for troubled souls." Mai laughed to see her friends face turn into a pout.

"Hey, I don't deal with souls, that's your job. My job is to deal with the vegetable and fruit variety and maybe the little old ladies from down the street, but last time I checked, none of the customers were dead." Nara and Mai both laughed.

"I don't know Nara," Mai put her hand to her temple as though trying hard to see something; "It looks like you have a ghost standing next to the eggs. You might want call my boss." Mai laughed as she saw Nara's face drop a fraction of an inch.

"Wait, you're not serious are you?" Nara asked.

"No Nara, you don't have to worry about any spirits sneaking up on you anytime soon. I don't tend to see the spirits. At least not as much as others, I just tend to draw them to me." Mai said.

"Well make sure not to bring them here." Nara said putting her hands to her hips.

"Hey, you need to get back to work." Mai and Nara turned around to see the manager standing behind them, "Ah, hello there Mai. Anything I can get for you today?"

"Thanks Mr. Momoka, but I'll be fine, I'm just going to go and get some leeks then I'll have everything I need. I will be away for a while anyways. I figured that I should go ahead and buy a couple of groceries before I leave. Most of it will be for dinner tonight anyways." Mai said with a smile.

"Well, we won't keep you then, I know how your boss likes you to be at work bright and early. How is he anyways?" The manager, (now known as Mr. Momoka.) asked.

"As narcissistic as ever," Mai said with another smile. "Ah, that reminds me, I need to get some more tea."

Nara's eyes opened wide, "didn't you just buy some tea two days ago, and it was a pretty big package too."

Mai laughed, "Some reason he has been asking for tea a lot more often than usual." Mai then turned to leave. I should be going now. Don't want to stay out to late."

Both the Momoka's nodded replying that they would see her in front when she comes to pay. Mai nodded and headed towards the leeks.

Mai's smile began to fade once she was out of sight of Nara. Unknowingly, Mr. Momoka had caused Mai to remember the case again. Mai sighed as she placed a leek into her cart. The thought of the client, Tsubasa Hotaru, made Mai as nervous as when she had first met him. Mai still could not understand though why Lin had asked her to leave the room while they talked to the client. Sure, she did not want to be in the room anyways but still. And then the look that Naru was giving Mr. Tsubasa… If looks could kill, Naru sure had just won the award for the complete and total annihilation of that look.

Mai smiled. She had noticed that Naru was beginning to show more emotion though. It was very subtle, which made it hard if not impossible for others to notice it. Mai headed towards the front of the store. She stopped in her tracks though when the front cover of a magazine caught her eyes.

"FIRE BREAKS OUT AT HOSEI POINT! MAYOR IGNORS CALLS FOR ACTION!"

Mai placed her basket down on the ground and walked over to the magazine picking it up in her hands. It was not the article title that had caught her attention. It was the fact that glaring back at her from the front page was the face of their client. Mr. Tsubasa Hotaru.

Mai's hands were shaking when a touch on her shoulder brought her back to real life.

"Is something wrong?" Nara asked with worry in her eyes.

"Um… No… it's nothing; I'll go ahead and get the groceries in the cart, along with this magazine." Mai said placing the magazine into the cart and picking it up. She had to hold her wrist with her other hand to keep her hand from shaking.

Nara nodded realizing that Mai was not going to say anything else about the topic.

Mai followed Nara to a cashier post. 'Something is really wrong with Hosei point and it's Mayor.' Mai thought as she placed her basket down for Nara to begin ringing the groceries up.

* * *

Naru yawned while staring at the computer screen in front of him. He had been staring at the same screen for the past ten minutes. The lights were off in the office and the only light came from the screen in front of him. The headline on the screen blasted, 'Fires still rage in Hosei Point: Is the Fire From Ten Years Ago the Same as Today's?' Sighing, Naru stood up for the millionth time that day, luckily not for the reason of heading to the bathroom. He really had drunk to much tea that day. Naru sighed as he turned off his computer. It was not that he was overly thirsty, in fact after a while; he began to wonder if you could die of too much tea consumption. The reason he had continuously asked Mai to make him tea was simply because he knew that it meant that Mai would be delivering the tea to him.

Naru knew that if Gene was still there he would be staring him down with conniving glares. Gene would be beside himself in laughter at the obvious tactics that Naru was putting up to be near Mai without seeming overly different. Gene would also probably tell him to hurry up and get over with the confession.

There was no way that Naru was going to confess…yet… he still had not thought of a way to do so which was something that he did not pride himself in saying about himself. Naru had been someone who always knew what to do in tuff situations. At the moment, he found himself in a situation where he did not know what to do

Naru had had to deal with Lin's annoyingly knowing grin every now and then throughout the day. If Naru had not known how much Lin had known about him, he defiantly knew it now.

Lin had been with Naru and Gene since they were kids. Lin had been hired to help with the family business and at times watch over the kids while their parents were gone. From all the years of being with the twins, Lin had learned many of the secrets that the two had kept.

Lin had been with Naru and Gene when they had headed to Japan 12 years ago. Naru and Gene had been seven at the time and their powers were as strong as ever. They had headed to Japan to work on a case with their father Martin. Martin tended to give his sons cases that would help them in the future, though Naru did have to question what the point of the case was back then. It was mostly a case dealing with a poltergeist. A man had called Naru and Gene's father for help because things were flying all over their house. It just so happened, that real close by was the town of Hosei point.

When Naru had become utterly bored of the case they were on, he had found his way to a library where he read up on all he could about Hosei point. Gene had followed Naru to the library but had found the place to be utterly boring. Gene had run off with a boy around their age that he had met somewhere close by to the library.

Naru tried to remember the name of the boy but could not. He did remember though that the boy was from Hosei Point. While Naru had continued to read at the library, Gene and whoever the other boy was had found their way into some trouble with the mayor of Hosei point. This was how Naru had met Tsubasa Hotaru in the first place. Tsubasa had tried to convince their father that Gene was nothing but a degenerate and if he was not sent to a boarding school he would not turn out to be a well rounded adult. Naru had taken that time to degrade Tsubasa on his resent thesis on the 'Growing Infection of the Younger Generation'

It was from this point on that Hotaru and Naru became natural enemies. Martin had explained to Tsubasa Hotaru that he and his boys would be leaving soon so he would not have to worry about any supposed degenerate behavior in either of his boys. Tsubasa Hotaru was upset that Naru and Gene's father had turned him down. Unluckily for the other boy that Gene had made friends with though, He was sent to the reform school. Gene had found out a year later that the boy had died of an unknown reason. Gene swore it had something to do with Tsubasa Hotaru but since they had no proof nothing became of it.

Naru walked towards his office door while placing his jacket on. Opening the door he turned and knocked on Lin's door.

"Lin, I'm heading out."

Lin stood up and began to place his own jacket on when Naru stopped him.

"I'll be walking home on my own." Before Lin could stop him, Naru headed out the front door and down onto the dark street. Naru paused to look at the dark sky above him. The moon was not out. Naru sighed and continued his way towards his home. It was a mildly cold night which caused Naru to button up his black jacket.

Walking down the street, Naru began to prepare himself for the next day. They would be heading to Hosei Point to begin their next case. Naru had asked Mai to call the rest of the SPR team in except for Yasuhara who was still working with Yatzu. After their last case, Yasuhara had been offered a part time job until the police department could get someone else to take over. Yasuhara had agreed asking the members of SPR not to cry over his departure. He had been answered with many shoves out the door. Obviously everyone was happy that Yasuhara would not be accompanying them on their next case. Naru and Lin watched in the background as Yasuhara left. They were not ones to have any opinions on those types of matters.

Naru looked inside the window of a grocery store. A young woman, around Mai's age was busy sweeping the floor. She looked up seeing Naru staring at her then waved at him. Naru did not wave back and continued. Naru knew that Mai shopped at that store. The bags that she brought to work that carried the tea in them had their logo on it.

As Naru passed by a lighted park he stopped wondering if Mai had said anything about him to the store employees. 'It would make sense.' Naru thought to himself referring to how the girl had waved to him like she knew him. Though, if Mai had known that Naru was thinking things like that, she would probably put it off to him being a narcissist.

'Not everyone talks about you like you're a god Naru' she would probably say. Though Naru had to admit, he had never met someone who had ignored him.

'Idiot scientist' Naru heard his brothers voices say in his head. 'Gene?' Naru thought. But no one answered back. Naru was wondering if he was hearing things when he spotted someone sitting on a park bench reading what looked like a magazine. Naru watched the figure a little longer. On the bench next to the figure sat grocery bags that came from the same store he just passed by.

Naru began walking closer to the figure trying to get a closer look at who it was. He stopped again when he realized that it was Mai. Mai was holding a magazine up close to her face as though the words would fly off the page if she did not keep it close to her. Naru could see that her hands were clenched on the edges of the magazine so tight that her knuckles were turning white.

'What could she possibly be reading that would cause her to be so uptight?' Naru thought to himself. He then saw the picture on the front cover and realized what it was about. Staring out of the cover was the one guy Naru wished did not come back from the past to visit him. Tsubasa Hotaru.

* * *

Mai's fists clenched hard onto the magazine that she had just bought from the store. She had found her way to a lighted park that she used to play at when she was younger. Sitting down on the bench, she had pulled out the magazine and started to read the article as though it would tell her the meaning of life.

"_DECADE OLD FIRE RETURNS TO HAUNT TOWN: WHAT IS THE MAYOR DOING?"  
_

'_A fire that struck the small town of Hosei point has returned a decade later to finish its job.' Or at least that is what the citizens of Hosei point claim of the fires that have been popping up all over the town greatly known for its beautiful forests that surround it. _

_When asked about the fire from ten years ago, a citizen, who would like to keep his name anonymous, replied:_

"_It was a horrible fire, ten families were killed. Caused by a young delinquent or at least that is what the mayor would like us to think. If you look around, the forest was never touched. It (the fire) went after everything in its path except for the trees. I say it's a spirit from the forest. I don't see how a normal fire could choose to burn certain buildings and leave an entire forest untouched… but what do I know… not like I get to sit around all days chasing unseen delinquents all day…"_

_When asked about the mayor, the man declined to comment._

_We asked the local fire department about how it could be possible for a town to be caught in flames and none of the trees that surround it so close by could be caught on fire. _

"_To tell you the truth, we don't know," said the head chief of the fire house, "It could just be luck or it could be something completely different. At the moment we are just trying to find the people who caused the fire. To tell you the truth though, we have not found the cause of the fire. It's like the flames just randomly appear." _

_We headed to the man who everyone is crying to for help, Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru. _

_Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru is well known for his hard fist attitude towards juvenile delinquents. In the past 19 years, Mayor Tsubasa has already set up eleven laws against what he calls, __**'The Growing Infection of the Younger Generation.'**__ Mayor Tsubasa claims, "The younger generation is full of degenerates that disobey the laws and their elders." When he was asked if he believed that all children were inherently likely to disobey the laws or if it was only some, he said, "All young people have the tendency to disobey the rules. There is not one child out there who could be considered an exception to it. Show me one and I'll declare a holiday." Mayor Tsubasa laughed. Then, becoming serious again, "We need to be vigilant and help lead the next generation to the right path. If that means sending them away to reform schools then so be it."_

_Mayor Tsubasa was recently known for his criticism against anything having to do with the paranormal. He has quoted many times 'Oliver Davis' as one of the 'causes of the future down fall.' According to Mayor Tsubasa, "Believing in the paranormal is just a person's way of getting out of the trouble they have caused of themselves. Anyone who states that they are being haunted should be sent to the insane asylum."_

_We then went on to ask if he believed the fire was caused by 'spirits' or if it was a pyromaniac. _

_Mayor Tsubasa did not hesitate, "It is obviously a pyromaniac. No if's and's or But's about it. This is a good example of the delinquents I have been fighting against sense I became Mayor 19 years ago."_

_When asked about the young boy who was found dead near one of the burned down buildings, the mayor declined to continue on with the interview. Before we left though he did comment that the boy we spoke off was "one of the biggest trouble makers of all time and that he would not be surprised if it was he who caused the fires from ten years ago." The Mayor then took of mentioning that he had a meeting with someone he knew from a while back._

_When asked about the young boy who died in the fire, the citizens did say they did believe that it had something to do with him, but they also said that there was another boy from two years before the fire who died of unknown causes. We researched about the boy in question, Ayden Lee Thomas, was born in America to a mother from America and a Japanese father. They had moved to Hosei Point when Ayden was three years old. Throughout his life, Ayden had been found by the mayor to be one of the many delinquents of the future generation. When he was eight years old he was sent to a reform school and was found dead the next year. _

_In the end, with fires still popping up around Hosei Point, it looks as though the citizens are left with more questions than answers. What is causing the fires? Ghost our Delinquent? Did Ayden from two years before the fire or the boy who died during the fire have anything to do with the fire? Who is it that the Mayor had a meeting with? What is the Mayor doing to stop the fires from continuing? If it happens that the one who the Mayor left to see has something to do with ending the fire, who was it? _

_These are all the questions running through Hosei residents minds as the fires rage on._

Mai finished the article and began to re-read it. Mai could tell that the article was written by someone new to the writing business although, she did have to admit that it did leave some unfinished questions. As Mai got to the second paragraph the magazine was pulled from her hands.

"HEY!" Mai said in protest.

"What are you doing here Mai?" Said the cold voice of her boss.

Mai sighed and looked at the blue eyes of Naru, "look who's being dumb now, last time I checked, when someone has a magazine in their hands it means they were reading it." Mai said trying to talk the same way as Naru.

Naru continued to stare at her as though he had totally ignored her last comment. Mai began to blush when she noticed that Naru was not turning his stare away from her. Mai looked down at her groceries trying to hide from his constant stare. There was defiantly something about his eyes. Even though his face still looked as placid as ever, his eyes were showing a multitude of emotions that Mai had never seen before. Was she only imagining it? Mai could not tell. Right now though, his eyes showed…was that sadness? Mai looked back up to see if that was what it was but found that Naru had turned his back to her and had begun to read her magazine.

"Hey, have you heard of buying your own?" Mai protested

Naru finished reading the article and turned back towards Mai, "It's getting late and your groceries are starting to melt."

Mai looked at her groceries and realized that the small bag of ice she had bought was indeed melting.

"JUST GREAT!" Mai yelled at herself.

"One more thing Mai." Naru said while tossing the magazine into the trashcan that stood next to them. Mai wanted to protest but found herself caught off by a different look in Naru's sea blue eyes. Mai found herself lost in his eyes. His eyes showed a strange emotion that Mai could not name. It was defiantly something she had never seen before in her narcissistic bosses' eyes.

"I still expect you to be at work at 7:30 in the morning." Naru turned and headed towards the edge of the park.

Naru paused at the edge of the park when he heard Mai scream something at him. He smirked and walked off.

'Yes Gene, I know you're waiting for me to go for it.' He said to himself. If only Gene could hear him.

* * *

**A/N:**

_Again, sorry for the late and horrible chapter. Hopefully it will get better soon. Actually, if I can write what I have planned properly, it will be a good story. So: D here's to good luck for me. :)_

_Thank You for reading. I will try and get chapter three out sooner but I can't make any promises._


	3. Chapter 3 departure

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT!**

**Chapter Three**

Mai ran quickly towards the SPR building passing by many people who stopped to stare angrily at her.

"I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" Mai screamed out loud not noticing the strange look directed at her by a mother and her young child.

The child turned towards his mother with a grin, "That lady is loud." The child said with a grin as though he just stated something profound.

"Don't mind her." The mother said while quickly grabbing onto his wrist and pulling him towards a small tea shop.

Mai turned the corner that led towards the office. She paused when she saw Naru, still dressed all in black leaning against the trunk door staring at her with his arms crossed.

Mai's eyebrows rose in wonderment, usually when she was late, Naru would be sitting in the car waiting for her to get in so that he could comment on her tardiness.

This time when Mai arrived at the car and stood expectantly in front of Naru waiting for his normal comment of, 'Idiot,' she was surprised when he just nodded his head and told her to "Get in the car," while gently pushing her towards the door with his hand on her back.

With that one touch, Mai was sent into a temporary state of shock.

Lin watched as Mai silently got into the car and sat in the back seat. He let a small smile cross his face but quickly hid it when Naru entered the front seat of the car. Takigawa, Masako, and Ayako would be meeting up with them later on.

Mai sat in the back of the car staring out the window as the other cars passed by them. It was not until the car arrived at the train station that Mai finally came out of her stupor.

"Hey, wait a minute, why are we at a train station?" Mai questioned while still staring at the train in front of her with wide eyes. Mai could not remember the last time that she was ever on a train, let alone if she had ever been on a train.

"Last time I checked, if one is at a train station, it usually means you're going to ride one."

Mai scowled 'looks like Naru is back to his old self' She thought before turning to look at Naru.

"So we are going to ride the train? Why are we not driving to Hosei Point?"

Lin had found a parking space and had just left the car to get a trolley for the equipment.

"Mai, there are fires popping up all over Hosei Point, the mayor has made it so that no one can enter or leave without his permission. He seems to think that if he lets everyone leave that the one who is causing the fires will leave as well…"

Mai interrupted Naru's explanation, "BUT THAT'S ILLEGAL. HE CAN'T KEEP PEOPLE FROM RUNNING AWAY FROM THE FIRE!" Mai yelled as though she thought it was common sense.

Naru sighed and turned to look at his assistant whose eyes were dead set on getting to the bottom of her newly found atrocity.

"The mayor allows the people to leave after he has finished questioning them. The only people who are left are the ones that he feels have something to do with the fire." Naru paused to turn and look at the train. People were walking off the train heading towards their cars or towards the people who were picking them up. He continued, "The mayor has power in high places. Also, Hosei point tends to keep to itself. It does not like having people from the outside coming in and telling them how to live." Naru finished talking and shut the door of the car. Mai sat still for a while thinking of what Naru had just told her.

'It does not make sense. It's like there is a secret that the mayor and the town is trying to keep. Even the news paper article did not completely make sense. Many of the people who were interviewed kept their name a secret. What are they afraid of?' Mai unbuckled her seat belt and rushed way too quickly out of the car. Before she could stop herself, she found her face heading straight towards the concrete below her. Mai closed her eyes waiting for the pain that was sure to come but found herself landing in something softer than concrete should have been.

"Be careful idiot." Mai opened her eyes to find her face leaning against a dark black shirt.

Mai quickly stepped back right as she heard a cat call coming from behind them. She turned around with her face still bright red to see Takigawa, Ayako, and Masako walking towards them.

"I'm glad to see that your relationship is going well." Takigawa said with a huge grin on his face. Mai's face turned even brighter. She found her way over to Takigawa and to the best of her abilities, (which is not that good. I'm sorry Mai, but I can't see you as being that strong. :D ) Punched Takigawa in the stomach. Takigawa just grabbed Mai into a big bone crunching hug making him receive and even bigger hit from Ayako.

Mai was able to move herself away from Monk.

"GROW UP!" She yelled then turned and stocked back towards the car to start unpacking the equipment. Lin had just come back with a trolley that they could place the equipment on and roll it towards the train platform.

Takigawa laughed then turned towards Naru, "So, I hear that the mayor of Hosei Point has hired us. That's interesting to hear, from what I heard and there is not much too really hear coming out of Hosei Point, Mayor Tsubasa is not one to believe in the super natural.

Ayako butted in before Naru could say anything. "How can people say that no information comes out of Hosei Point when there was an article done on it recently?" before Ayako had headed over to Takigawa's place in order to head out for the case , she had gone by a coffee shop that had the magazine in it.

Naru replied Ayako's question, "Most of the information that comes out to the public is pre approved by the mayor. For the article you read, I would have to say that the writer of the article did not get it completely approved. There is no way that the mayor would let that much information out to the surrounding cities or towns. I checked to see if I was correct,"

Ayako interrupted, "How could you tell if it was not approved?" She asked with her hands twitching with interest.

"The author of the article was fired. When I asked the head of the newspaper about the writer, he said that he had just recently been released from duty due to libel. The magazine will probably be pulled from the shelves before today is over."

"Well that still does not explain the other information that has come out. For example, the information that we have on the Mayor himself and his beliefs." Monk asked.

Masako cut in before Naru had to repeat himself. "Weren't you listening? Naru said that the information that got out was usually approved before hand. The Mayor does not have a problem with letting his own opinions out into the public. Its anything that has to do with Hosei Point that does not get out. Tell me, before the fire, have you ever heard of Hosei Point?" Masako asked.

Takigawa and Ayako shook their heads, "The last time I heard anything was from the fire ten years ago, and then once it was put out, it was like the town just up and disappeared."

"Exactly," Naru completed, then before the others could ask any more questions, "Get to work, the train will not wait all day for us, and I'm sure that Mayor Tsubasa will use us being late as further proof of paranormal research being false."

Takigawa and Ayako grumbled but quickly got to work.

Masako who had been covering her mouth with her hand due to the big smile at being semi complemented by Naru finally let her hand fall away from her mouth when she thought back to when they had arrived. Masako turned to look at Mai with an annoyed grin. 'Why is it that Mai seems to get most of Naru's attention though? Even with that complement, it was not really directed at herself. She finally took her eyes off of Mai who was doing a pretty good job of ignoring Masako's annoyed look. When Masako had walked over to Naru's car, she had planned to try her best to get close to her boss. Though, she was not sure how she was going to do that. But, when she had finally arrived, she was annoyed to see that Mai had already, 'gotten close' to Naru. 'What does she have that I don't?' Masako growled inwardly. She would just have to make sure to get the seat next to Naru while on the train.

It took ten minutes to get the equipment onto the train. The train was a passenger train that could house six people in one room. Naru had made sure to order two rooms though so that it would not be overly crowded. The train ride would last for four hours just to arrive at Hosei Point.

When Mai had handed her ticket to the ticket handler, the man's eyes had opened wide in surprise. "It's not every day that we get someone heading to Hosei Point. Have you not heard of the fire?"

Mai was about to reply when Naru butted in by pushing Mai ahead saying "hurry up and get in, we don't have all day." Mai was going to retort but was quickly pushed through the train's doors by Takigawa.

"No one can know what we are doing." Takigawa whispered silently.

Mai had questions but they were quickly pushed out of her head by the insides of the train. 'Yeah, I don't think I have ever been on a train before.' Mai said to herself as she was finally able to see the inside. The walls and floors were covered in royal type colors such as red, gold lining, and some blues. Mai's eyes and mouth were hung wide open.

Naru smirked looking at the look that was on his assistants face. He had to admit, to the untrained eye, the train would have looked beautiful, though it was obvious that a lot of the material was not of the best quality. Naru thought back to when Mai had finally arrived at the SPR building. As usual, she was late, Naru considered going through his usual routine of calling her an idiot for being late, but decided against it when he finally saw her. Her hair was windblown from running all the way from her apartment to the building. Naru could feel his heart stop for a moment when he saw her but quickly went back to his somewhat usual self without the usual criticism. Naru was surprised with himself when he actually placed his hand on Mai's back pushing her towards the car but was equally interested in Mai's reaction. She had been on the verge of arguing with him when she suddenly became overly quite. The car ride over to the train station was equally as quiet. It was not until they had arrived at the train station that Mai had come back to herself.

Naru was interested to see the look on Mai's face. He wondered if Mai had ever been on a train before. Tsubasa had given Naru two different choices on travel. He could have had Tsubasa come and pick them up, which Naru was completely against. To tell the truth, he did not want to be anywhere nears that man. The other choice was the train. Naru chose the train. He decided that his team did not know that there was another choice. He would let them believe that the train was the only way. He was defiantly relived now that he had chosen the train. Mai was ecstatic about being able to ride on the train.

The group walked down a long hallway that had many rooms to it. Mai peered inside one of the rooms and saw a man sleeping on a bed that was nailed to the side of the bedroom wall so as not to move around while the train was in motion. The group then crossed between two of the connecting trains. Mai's mouth dropped open. Even though the train was small from side to side, the cafeteria area of the train was beautifully decorated. The tables were covered with pure white table clothes with candles nailed to the middle of the table. The sides of the walls opened up with big large glass windows. Mai could see the surrounding landscape passing by them now at a constant speed. Mai turned to look at Naru.

"Do I even want to know how much this cost?" Mai asked with shock on her face.

"That's not for you to worry about, anyways; it's Mayor Tsubasa who paid for the trip." Naru said with a placid face.

"About that," Takigawa asked turning to Naru, "If Mayor Tsubasa does not like us so much, then why would he be spending money for transportation like this?" Takigawa asked as the train began to move.

"Mayor Tsubasa would not have it any other way; He has his reputation to keep up. You could think of it as a backup for just in case that we do solve whatever it is that's going on." Naru then turned as a man in a train personals uniform tapped him on the back of the shoulder. He was happy for the change in subject but he was also annoyed that someone thought that they could just touch him without warning.

"Hello, I want to welcome you to our train. Right now you are standing in the dining car. If there is anything that we can get you to eat, you can ask any of our servers in the white chef's outfits." The man was obviously of American heritage. He had dirty blond hair with deep brown eyes. His outfit was a clean white shirt with long black dress pants. On his shirt he wore a small rectangle name tag with his name, 'George Gray' written in bold black letters. George Gray looked oblivious to the death stare that Naru was giving him for his abrupt touch.

"If you follow me this way, I can show you to your rooms." Mr. Gray turned his body pointing his hand behind him towards the next car.

"Thank you Mr. Gray," Mai said putting on a smile and trying to get the man's attention away from her obviously perturbed boss. Mai was defiantly amazed that she was one of the only ones except for Lin who could now tell when Naru was becoming his usual annoyed self.

"You can call me George." George replied with a large smile towards Mai then headed off towards the direction he had been pointing at moments ago.

If Mai had to guess she would have to say that George Gray was probably in his young twenties. She wondered how he had come to be all the way in Japan, and then to be working on such a nice train as well.

As the group made their way down the trains cars towards what would be their room for the next four hours, Mai turned to George, "How long have you been working on trains?" She asked.

George smiled again, "You're not the first one to ask me that, my dad actually ran the train, when I graduated from high school, he said that if I wanted to, I could move down here and start working on one of his trains. I've been on trains for so long now that the training was pretty much already completed for me. Every summer I would come down to Japan and stay with my dad who rode most of the trains just to make sure that everything was going well. That's how I learned to speak Japanese. Most of the passengers became my teachers. That is… as long as they really wanted to teach me."

"Ah, I could imagine that you would probably get quite a few difficult passengers." Mai said thinking of some of the previous clients that SPR had.

"Nah, a lot of them were quite friendly, though, that Mayor from Hosei Point, he defiantly was not a good passenger most of the time."

The team had to stop in the middle of one of the hallways. George had stopped as though he was thinking of something difficult.

"If you could possibly not tell him that I just said that I would be happy." George looked over at Mai then turned his head towards Naru as though he knew that Naru was the one to ask.

"We won't tell him, though we would like to know more about Mayor Tsubasa rides on your train if you could let us know." Naru said.

George began walking again as the team followed. "As long as you don't mention my name I have no problems telling you about him." George took a deep breath as though getting ready to say something difficult. "The first time I saw Mayor Tsubasa was a few years before the fire. He was constantly traveling to a school that he had built for troubled youth. It's actually not very far away from Hosei Point but Mayor Tsubasa seemed to find it more comfortable to take the train. It was after the school was finally built that I saw Mayor Tsubasa come on the train with a young boy."

George paused again in talking he turned towards Mai and the others. Ayako and Takigawa had been walking behind them while Masako was walking as close to Naru as she could get. "I wish I knew what would happen to that boy in a year. He was so young. As young as me, or maybe a little younger, I'm not sure. He was eight though. The boy told me that he was being sent to the school for troubled children. What I saw of him though, he was not troubled at all. Just a normal kid. After talking to him for a while, Mayor Tsubasa came up and told him that they were getting off. It was like the Mayor did not even see me, or if he did, he was too busy with something else. If there is anything I will remember though, it was the sadness in the boys' eyes. It was a year later that I heard that he died."

Mai's eyes opened wide, "Was his name Ayden Thomas?"

"Actually, I believe it was." George said with a saddened smile on his face.

"How did you know that?" Takigawa asked

"I read it in a magazine. It said that they were not sure how he died." Mai said.

"So, have you ever ridden a train before now?" George now asked obviously trying to get the conversation somewhere else while his attention was still set on Mai.

Mai smiled up at the kind man who was still showing the way towards their room, "Actually, I don't think that I have been on a train before." Mai was fine with the change in subject. She actually was starting to feel strange with the last conversation. As though something else was listening in to the conversation as well.

"Well then, if you would like, I could tell you the history of the train, there are actually quite a few interesting facts that not that many people know of the blue line." George replied referring to the train that they were on.

"We are not here to learn about the train's history." Naru snapped.

"NARU!" Mai yelled then turned to face George again, "I'm sorry about my boss's rudeness."

"Don't worry about it; we have now arrived at your room. If there is anything else that I can get you just let me know." George walked away and back towards the dining car.

Naru watched as Mai took in a deep breath and headed into one of the rooms sitting down on one of the bench seats and staring out the window. Naru had a lot to think of as well. It seemed as though the boy that he and Gene had met when they had come to Hosei Point before the fire had been seen by George. It also seemed that it was in fact the same boy from the magazine. Naru sighed inwardly. If Gene was here he would defiantly want in on the case.

"So, what did you think of George and his story?" Takigawa asked as the rest of the SPR team sat down on the seats as well.

"From what it looks like, it seems that Mayor Tsubasa may have had something to do with Ayden's death." Ayako replied with her chin resting on her hand.

"We can't assume that yet." Naru said. He had a feeling that there was something more to the story. Though, he would not take Mayor Tsubasa off of his list of suspects yet.

Lin had taken out his laptop and like usual, he began to type. He was really worried about how Naru would be able to handle this case. If it was not for the fact that Naru had past history with Mayor Tsubasa, Lin was sure that Naru would be able to get through this case. Though, that was not the only worrying thing. Naru had finally realized his feelings for Mai. Although he was able to keep himself to his normal façade in normal situations, he seemed to have a more difficult time when it came to Mai's safety.

Mai seemed to gain her usual composer back because she suddenly turned from looking out the window to look over at Naru.

"So, Naru, what will we do when we finally arrive?" She asked with anticipation clearly written on her face.

"There are some people who will be meeting with us at the train station." Naru said folding his arms to get relaxed in the seat. There was really nothing for them to do until they arrived at the station three hours from now.

"You know people over at Hosei Point?" Mai asked with surprise.

"I just said that we were meeting some people over there, I never said that they lived in Hosei Point." Naru said in a matter of fact way.

Mai just sighed before Naru opened his mouth to ask Mai something.

"I know, I know, Tea right?" Mai stood up to leave though she paused. "Do you think that they will allow me to make tea on here though?" she asked with her eye brows raised in question.

"Just go make the tea." Naru said.

Mai stormed out of the room. Naru still found it funny to anger Mai. The expressions that were displayed on her face could be so funny that if Naru had not found it easy to keep his emotions tucked away due to his brother's death, he would defiantly laugh.

Mai left the room to head back towards the dinning cart. Before she turned the corner she heard Takigawa ask, "Where do you think the bathroom is, I've been waiting for quite a while now to use it."

Mai laughed at the sound of Ayako's purse slamming into something hard, most likely belonging to a certain Monk's obnoxious head.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE EARLIER BEFORE WE LEFT!" Ayako's voice screamed down the hallway. Mai watched as a couple of people's heads peered out of their rooms.

Mai finally made it to the dinning cart and watched as the last waiter headed towards the trains kitchen. Mai sighed and made her way to enter the kitchen to ask if she could make the tea in there. Before she entered though, something to the left of her caught her eye. Mai stopped with her hand on the door and turned towards the figure.

Sitting in front of the large open windows sat a young boy. His shoulders were shaking like he was crying.

"What's wrong?" Mai asked walking over to the young boy.

"I can't find him." the boy sobbed.

"Find who?" Mai asked walking closer to the boy.

"My friend, he's always been with me. I think I made him mad." The boy cried again.

"I can help you find him if you want me to." Mai began she reached her hand out to grab a hold of the boys shoulders. Mai did not know why but the boy looked familiar to her.

"Mai?" Mai turned to look at the voice who called her from behind.

"George?" Mai looked at the man who stood in front of her as though he was confused.

"Who are you talking to?" George asked.

Mai turned back towards where the boy had been sitting only to find that no one was there. 'What the…' Mai knew that the boy had just been there.

"Um… Never mind… Uh… I came to see if I can make some tea for Naru." Mai hesitated but then turned back to George.

"Ah, sure, that's fine, come with me. I'll show you to the kitchen." George replied.

Mai smiled then followed George.

**A/N:**

_Okay, I was going to continue on with this chapter but it is getting really long and I don't want to keep you waiting._

_Sorry that this chapter is so late though. I hope it was good. I'll try and post the next chapter faster this time._

**R&R**


	4. Chapter 4 tea, dreams, and visions

**This chapter is dedicated to Jade Starlight, xdeamernumbuhfour, Arianna Taniyama, Sakura2112, Chibi-Kyuubi-Chan, SuperGalGene348, Moons-Chan, CrazylittleCheezer, aniAngelxx, and Krissy2lip. Thank you so much for reading my story.**

**I do not own ghost hunt**

Chapter Four

As Mai waited for the tea to finish steeping, she listened to the sound of the train running quickly over the tracks. The clock on the wall showed that it was now half past twelve. A couple minutes ago, George had been called to one of the passengers rooms to help a lady who insisted that her pet had disappeared somewhere in the train. Mai was now left in the kitchen with a cook and two young waiters who seemed to want nothing more to do then sit around and talk to each other. The cook, who was a little past mid age, was beating a tune to his music that played loudly out of his head phones. His spatula was constantly hitting the sides of pans and the large oven that was cooking the many different foods that were served on the train.

"Hey Guys, stop sitting around and start bringing the food out to the passengers." The cook said turning to his fellow servers. The two servers looked at the cook like he was the last thing on the planet that they wanted to hear from. They both stood up sighing and left with trays containing cutlery and a plate with a single sandwich.

The cook sighed but then continued to cook and move to the music.

Mai smiled and turned to ask the cook a question.

"How long have you been working here on the train?" She asked

The cook took off his head phones and turned his attention to Mai. "I'm sorry; I did not quite hear you."

Mai smiled again then repeated her question.

"Ah, I believe that this will be my third year. This train had been without a cook for quite a while. The one before me had been quite a long time ago." The cook said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"What happened to the old cook?" Mai asked

"I believe he retired, said that he could not handle the job anymore. I'm starting to not blame him. These servers that they give me can be such a pain." The man laughed before turning off the stove that was cooking a pot of soup. "Though, the train has been real slow lately, not many people ridding it due to the fires and all. Most people get off before Hosei Point. Right now, I believe we have fifteen people riding the train, but once we get past this next stop you and your team will be the only ones left on not including the staff. "

Mai nodded in understanding when a loud crash sounded in the dining room.

"Ah come on!" the cook shouted out loud then ran out to see what damage the servers had brought about.

Mai laughed then became startled when the tea kettle began to whistle. Sighing, Mai returned to preparing the tea for Naru.

Mai placed the tea kettle onto a tray along with a few non-breakable cups. She had learned from previous disastrous mishaps that for her to bring breakable cups would most likely lead to her being burned by hot tea or being cut by sharp pieces of glass.

Mai soon was met with a great example to previous mishaps when the lights flickered off, not only leaving her in complete darkness but also making her drop the tray. Mai sighed then realized suddenly that something was completely wrong with the present situation.

It was still morning outside; there was no possible way for it to be as dark as it was now. Mai also noticed that along with the darkness came a foreboding coldness. The Lights came back on when the train seemed to hit a bump in the tracks. Mai let out a sigh when she noticed that the room had become warm again.

'That was strange' she thought to herself leaning over to pick up the dropped tray. Mai paused with her hand out stretched. 'That's odd, where did the tray go?' Mai thought. She was brought out of her thoughts to the sound of many people sitting in the dining room. 'That's more than fifteen people.'

Mai walked over to the door to see what was going on only to gasp in surprise at the amount of people sitting in the dinning cart. Mai could count at least twenty five passengers sitting at the tables eating many different foods.

Mai watched as a small boy ran down the middle of the dinning cart almost hitting an older looking waiter.

'Who's he?' Mai thought to herself as the waiter glared at the small boy who bowed in apology. 'he's not one of the previous waiters.'

Mai was about to walk out of the kitchen to look for the cook when someone quickly opened the kitchen door causing Mai to shout out in panic as the door passed straight through her.

"Hayato, hurry up and get that order finished, Mr. Tsubasa does not like to be kept waiting." The man who was dressed as a cook said staring straight through Mai to someone who was standing behind her.

Mai turned around to see the man, whose name was supposedly Hayato, holding a pan of fried rise while slightly moving the pan so that the rise would turn itself over.

'I guess I'm dreaming.' Mai thought to herself noticing another voice pop in her head that sounded unnervingly like Naru, _'obviously Baka.'_ Mai grinned. She must be spending too much time with Naru if her own conscience was starting to sound like him.

Mai watched as Hayato put the pan down turning off the stove then moving the rice onto a plate adding garnish to make the plate look more appetizing.

Mai decided that she should follow the man. Gene had not appeared yet so she would make sure to gather as much information that she could even if he was not with her. 'That's what Naru would expect of me.' Mai thought as she followed the man towards the foods destination, '_Tsubasa Hotaru.' _

Naru looked out the window as the landscape went passed them. 'Mai's late.' He thought to himself. 'It should not take this long to get tea.' Sighing he stood up.

Lin watched as his young charge stood up as though he had something annoying he had to deal with.

"Going to find Mai?" Lin asked Naru with a smile so small that one would have to squint to see it.

"I'll be back." Naru said deciding he did not have to answer the question.

Lin nodded and looked back at his computer screen.

Naru closed the door silently and walked towards the dinning cart when a small dog ran up to him. Naru glared at the dog as it tried to jump into his hands. He sighed when he heard the quick footsteps of whoever was chasing the dog.

"Ah, Mr. Shibuya, sorry about that, one of the passengers called me to find their lost pet. Looks like you found him for me." George said reaching down for the dog who only found its way behind Naru's legs.

Naru sighed again resigning himself to reach down to pick the dog up. Naru looked the dog in its eyes giving it a glare. The dog only looked back with its tongue hanging out and its tail wagging back and forth.

Naru gave up handing the dog over to George who then thanked him.

"Have you seen my assistant?" Naru asked George who cocked his head to the side.

"Which one are you looking for?" George asked.

Naru had the urge to say 'the one and only idiot.' But thought better of it knowing that it would be completely uncharacteristic of him and would only lead to further confusion on George's part "Mai, I sent her to get tea a while ago."

George's eyes lit up in understanding. "I know who you're talking about now. She's in the kitchen. Strange thing is that she was not in there when I first found her. She was staring off into space as though someone was with her, though she was the only one in the dining car at the time."

Naru looked at George as though he had said something completely stupid before passing by him to get to Mai. He did not even turn around when George shouted,

"But she was alright when I left…"

Knowing Mai, which Naru felt that he did, she would be in trouble. Trouble was her middle name, as the saying went. Wherever she went trouble would follow. That was just the law of physics for her.

Naru passed through the dinning cart passing by a single passenger who was being apologized to repeatedly by a cook who seemed to be strangling a hole into his cook's hat. The passenger had seemingly had his drink spilled on him by a waiter. Naru did not have time to watch though. He had to get to Mai.

Just as he was about to open the door though, Mai stepped through the door as though she was following someone. Two waiters were watching from behind her as though she had gone insane.

"Tell me what happened?" Naru commanded of the two waiters.

"Well, we came back to find that she was frozen in place talking to herself. We tried to get her attention but she just ignored us." Said one of the waiters.

Naru nodded watching as Mai passed by him as though he was not even standing there. As Naru began to follow Mai, he heard the other waiter sigh saying, "We should have never taken this job. Boring as heck then when something interesting does happen we can't even see it through."

Naru ignored them. His eyes on his assistant. He wanted nothing more than to grab her and wake her up but he knew that if she was in a dream she would not wake up. Something bothered him though; Mai had never had a dream like this before. Usually she would be asleep while having it. This was a waking dream.

Mai followed the cook into the next car where he stopped pausing in front of a door. He knocked on the door waiting for a reply from the passenger inside.

"You can come in," a very familiar voice said through the door.

Mai walked in with the cook to find Tsubasa Hotaru sitting on a bench seat with a news paper unfolded across his lap as he read it. He did not even look up as the cook set the plate down on the table in front of him.

"Is there anything I can get for the boy?" The waiter asked

"He's fine just go." Tsubasa Hotaru said folding the newspaper up and setting it beside him.

The cook nodded then bowed before leaving back to his cooking chambers.

Mai looked around the room of the train then noticed the young boy who was sitting across from Mr. Tsubasa. Mai could feel anger build up in her chest as Tsubasa Hotaru began eating in front of the clearly hungry boy. The boy did not watch him though he just continued staring out the window.

"You understand why I am taking you to the boarding school right?" Tsubasa Hotaru began wiping his face with a clean white cloth.

"It's not a boarding school it's a prison." The boy grumbled under his breath.

"I see you won't be answering my question. The reason I am sending you there is because you are a very troubled young boy. I am sending you there so that you can become a good young adult. Do you understand?" Tsubasa Hotaru asked.

The boy did not answer. Tsubasa Hotaru stared at the boy for a while longer noisily chewing the leftover food that was still sitting in his mouth.

A voice came over the intercom, "We will be arriving at platform 12 please be ready to leave once we stop. Thank you and please ride with us again."

Mai could feel a tug on her body. It was as though she was flying backwards. Before she was pulled completely away from the scene in front of her, she looked out the window and noticed that they were surrounded by a dense forest.

~0~

Mai looked at the spirit particles that rose around her waiting for gene to come.

"Gene?" Mai called out into the partial darkness.

"Mai, what are you doing here?" came a voice from behind her.

Mai turned to finally see Gene standing behind her.

"Ah, I was wondering when you would show up. Also, what do you mean what am I doing here?" she asked with a questioning voice.

"Well for one thing do you remember falling asleep?" Mai shook her head.

"To tell you the truth, I never did fall asleep. The dream just began."

"This is not a dream Mai. Well… at least the first part of it was not a dream. What you just saw was a vision." Gene said with a concerned look on his face.

"What's the difference between a dream and a vision? Aren't they the same thing?" Mai asked

"I see them as being different. For example, when you dream I can be with you. It's something that I can guide you through because you are seeing it in your dream world. As for the visions, I can't help you through them. They are brought on by something in the real world. Well… as far in the real world as a ghost living in it can be." Gene said as though he had to consider his words.

"Gene, I don't know about you but the last part of that sentence really did not make sense." Mai said with a worried laugh.

"Tell Naru." Gene said.

"Wait, what?" Mai asked. She could feel the sleepiness that came from leaving a dream coming to her.

"Tell Naru what's going on. I can't protect you if you're not here Mai." Gene said before Mai completely blacked out.

Naru had followed Mai mostly to make sure that she did not hurt herself. He found it pretty interesting when she had opened a door to a room which was defiantly not unoccupied. A young couple was in the middle of kissing each other when the young woman screamed at Mai's interruption.

Both the young teens stared wide eyed as Mai just stood in front of them until she collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Naru kneeled down as slowly as his overly worried body would allow him to. He was certain that she was just sleeping. His thoughts were proved correctly. Naru sighed picking his young assistant up and turned to walk away from the overly confused couple who were still staring at the boy dressed all in black leaving without an explanation.

"Hey, Naru, We will be arriving at our stop soon." Came a voice from behind him. Naru turned slightly so that he could see that it was monk.

"MAI!" Takigawa shouted out loud gaining a glare from his young boss. "What happened?" Monk asked with a quieter voice.

"She had a vision. Now if you don't mind, I would like to get her back to our room." Naru said with an even darker glare on his face than he thought he could manage.

Takigawa nodded his head in agreement and followed the teen towards their room.

A million thoughts were running through Naru's mind. "What had just happened? Was it one of her normal dreams but just enhanced into the real world or something else?" If Naru knew anything, it was that he would have to keep a closer eye on his assistant on this case. If not for the reason of him not wanting to get a new assistant who would not be able to make as good of tea but also for the reason that he had just realized that he loved Mai.

Mai could feel that she was not standing up. She could also feel that even though she was not standing up, she was still moving. 'That's odd. How could my body be moving if I am not standing up in order to walk.' Mai pushed herself out of the dark fog that clouded her mind in order to open her eyes.

Mai let out a gasp before trying to sit up which only led her to being dropped onto the ground.

"OW!" Mai gasped rubbing her behind which had taken the brunt of the fall.

"Well, what did you expect would happen when you suddenly sit up like that in someone's arms?" Naru asked her.

Mai stared at Naru in amazement. Her brain seemed to be acting slower than usual. 'Why was Naru carrying me?' she thought.

Naru watched as Mai's face moved from being utterly confused to growing into a lovely red which signified her blush. But as soon as her blush covered her face, her emotions turned to anger. 'Yep, this was his Mai. Mai, who could not keep her feelings off of her face. She was way too easy to read.

"YOU JERK; YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING IN THAT PREDICAMENT." Mai yelled loud enough to catch the strange looks of passengers who were exiting the train. While Mai was still asleep, the train had stopped to let off the last passengers before they reached Hosei Point.

"First off Mai, I would never find myself in that predicament. Only idiots could find a way to pass out and have to be carried back to their room. Second of all, do you think you can get up now, I don't think my feet can last that much longer with your heavy body sitting on them." Naru said with as much sarcasm as he could lace into his voice.

This last comment sent Mai into a blushing frenzy. "NARU YOU…!"

Monk stood in the back ground silently laughing at the scene playing out in front of him.

Mai stood up way to quickly she started to fall back down when Naru quickly wrapped his arm around her shoulder to hold her up. Mai turned her head away from Naru a blush creeping back up her face.

Naru looked at his arm wrapped around Mai's shoulder as though it had just betrayed him. Slowly lowering his arm he sighed and began walking back towards the room.

"Mai, before we arrive at the station, I want you to tell me what happened." He said while still walking ahead of her.

Mai watched Naru walk away a few steps before she followed him with Takigawa walking next to her.

"So Mai, when are you going to get together with Naru?" Mai punched Takigawa on the shoulder before entering the room to tell Naru everything that went on when she went to make his darned tea.

A/N:

I am not sure if I like this chapter or not. oh well thats what happens when I get writters block. Its not that I did not know where it was heading, it that i could not figure how to put it in words. Now I finished it and I did not even end it the way I was planning for it to end.

I will now post another chapter right after this so that I can at least end up where I was planning to be.

Next chapter you should meet two people who I have not written about before.

Hope you liked the chapter.

on to the next chapter which I am writting at this momment.

R&R


	5. Chapter 5 Meeting the parents

**This chapter is dedicated to crazylittlecheezer. Thank you so much for your help.**

_A/N: I have a feeling this story is going to get really confusing. But I can't explain it without giving away a lot of things. Oh well. I'll just have to make my way through it._

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT**

**Chapter Five**

The train was pulling into the station at Hosei Point when Mai completed explaining everything that happened during her vision including about the two young boys she had seen. She had explained that the first boy that she saw in the dinning cart was not the same as the one in the vision. Mai still had the feeling that she had met the boy somewhere but for some reason she could not remember his name. 'it has something to do with the stars' she thought to herself but sadly could still not remember the boys name. Naru seemed more interested in the boy from the vision then he did about the one on the train itself though. He had asked Mai if she had gotten either of the boys names but when she had said she did not he changed the subject back to the dream and vision itself before she could mention anything about knowing the first boy from somewhere. Ayako, Monk, and Masako were sitting across from Lin, Naru and Mai. Once she had finished talking Ayako looked straight at Mai.

"So what you are saying is that you are now not only having dreams but also waking visions."

Mai nodded

Takigawa broke in. "But what does that mean? Isn't it the same as your dreams? You're still seeing what happened in the past but instead of you being fully asleep you're still awake."

"The difference is exactly that Takigawa" Naru began still looking at his notes. "If Mai is asleep while she has the dreams she is safer then she is if she is having a waking vision." Naru paused, "And I would also like to add that what happened at the office a few days ago was a small example of a waking vision. Mai was awake to feel the burning sensation but quickly passed out into a dream vision." Naru had told the rest of SPR about Mai's previous vision that had begun with Mai feeling as though she had been burned by fire.

"How can you say that about Mai being safer in a dream then a waking vision, especially with what happened in the past cases? She can still get hurt in her dreams rather it be emotionally or physically." Takigawa asked with confusion etched on his face. He was referring to the Nurado (Sp?) case when Mai had first gone through a victim's death. He was also referring to the past two cases where Mai, as always, found her way into some troubling situations.

Instead of Naru answering which everyone was expecting, Lin spoke up, "Do you remember the case with Kenji at the church? Well think of it like that. Mai will be in a possessed like state. She will be able to control her body in the vision but in the real world in a way, she won't be. Past and present things change every day. There could be a window keeping you from falling off a cliff in the past but the present could be where there is no window to keep you from falling. You could be walking in a bright and sunny day in the past and yet there is a thunderstorm in the present. Another example relevant to this case would be a house that was standing in the past being burned down around you in the present.

"Wow, I think that is the most you have ever said Lin… are you possessed?" came a voice from nowhere.

"Yasuhara?" Mai asked with bewilderment.

Naru raised his right hand allowing everyone to see that he was holding a phone up that was currently on speaker phone. Earlier Naru had picked his phone up and dialed a number Mai had never noticed though rather or not he ever actually said anything into the phone.

"Ah Mai, try not to get in so much trouble while I'm away, I won't be there to save you." Yasuhara's voice said coming out of the phone.

"Hey, when was the last time that you ever saved me?" Mai questioned with a smile on her face.

"Let's see… there was that one time when….." Yasuhara began.

"Yasuhara, I did not call you to let you talk with everyone else. I called you to ask if you did what I asked." Naru interrupted.

Mai glared at Naru only to receive a passive look from her boss.

"Ah… yes, the people you asked about have arrived. You do know you could have just had them call you right. I'm used to doing more of the investigation type…." Yasuhara was not able to finish what he was saying before Naru hung the phone up on him.

Before Mai could yell at Naru for his rude behavior the train began to slow to a stop.

Masako stood up grabbing her belongings. She had been worried hearing about the changes that were occurring in Mai's dreams but she did not want to have to sit on the train any longer than she had to. Grabbing Naru's hand, much to Naru's and Mai's annoyance, Masako pulled Naru out the door. It was an annoyance to Naru because he could not help but wish that it was Mai who was pulling him off the train instead. But in order to keep his persona in check, he had to go with it.

Takigawa grabbed a hold of Mai's shoulder letting her know that even if she did say anything against Masako's behavior it would not change anything. Mai just pouted but grabbed her back walking out the door to catch up to her Narcissistic boss.

Masako smiled at the look on Mai's face. Even if Masako did not have anything against Naru anymore that did not mean that she was going to give up. Even if it turned out to be a lost cause she would still try her best. Masako was not good with losing. If there was anything that she hated most in the world it was losing.

Mai quickly caught up to Naru and the overly clingy Masako as they walked through the hallways of the train, "Hey Naru," Mai asked leading up to a question but pausing to wait and see if she could continue.

Naru turned to look at his assistant as conformation that she could continue. Masako just glared at Mai as though she was taking up her precious time.

"What did Yasuhara mean by, 'the people you asked about have arrived.'?" Mai asked cocking her head to the side.

Naru looked at Mai's amazingly beautiful questioning eyes waiting for an answer.

"Didn't Naru tell you already, we are meeting up with some people he knows?" Masako said with as much venom she could add to it.

Mai scrunched her eyes as annoyance covered her face. Masako who was still holding Naru's arm brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Yes Naru did tell me that, but he never told me who we were meeting." Mai said in exasperation as they stepped off the train.

Naru sighed in resignation, "You'll meet them in a little bit Mai." He said with a calm voice. Naru took his arm out of Masako's grip then stepped gracefully off of the train as though he had been doing so all his life. Mai's mouth hung open but quickly closed it at the look Masako was giving her.

Masako got off of the train leaving Mai alone.

Mai stopped in her tracks as she stepped off the train into the bright sunlight. It took a while but once her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness her mouth dropped open at seeing the town that lay before her.

It was large and surrounded by an immense amount of trees. She could see where the fire had scorched many of the houses that lay scattered across the town. There was no sign of fire or smoke at the moment but Mai could smell scorched earth that blew towards her carried by the wind.

The newspaper had been right. The surrounding forest had not been touched. The wind that had just passed by her blew through the thick forested trees causing a rustling sound to hit her ears.

Mai was still standing near the doorway of the train when Ayako and Monk walked up behind her carrying large and heavy equipment.

"Jou-Chan, I know that it is always amazing to see a new town and all, but don't you think you could wait until after all the equipment is taken off the train to stand and stare at it?" Monk asked with strain Mai gasped in surprise then quickly out of their way.

"Sorry about that." Mai said.

Ayako and Monk placed the equipment down side by side.

"Don't worry about it." Monk said dusting off his hands while standing up straight.

Mai was about to head back into the train to grab more equipment when Lin walked out carrying another box of equipment.

"Hey, Lin, do you know anything about who we are meeting?" Mai asked

Lin nodded but only continued to walk towards the other piling equipment.

Mai sighed and walked back into the train to gather the rest of the equipment.

It took a while but the team finally emptied out all of the computers and video gear that was to be used during the case. Mai looked around to find that Naru was still nowhere to be found. Ever since he had stepped off the train he seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, if not just the town of Hosei Point. Mai sighed with annoyance.

'Where could he have gone? He usually stays to make sure none of the equipment is ruined in the unpacking process.' Mai looked at the pile of equipment when the thought that had been bothering her for a while suddenly popped to the forefront of her mind. There defiantly was not enough equipment laid out for the whole town. There would defiantly be a large amount of sights that needed to be watched. The whole town had been going up in flames. What was to say that once they arrived they would be able to pin point a single area as a main haunting sight?

Mai jumped as a hand was laid on her shoulder.

"Ah, sorry about that, I did not mean to scare you Mai." came George's voice.

Mai held her hand to her chest trying to calm herself down. "Ah, don't worry about it. It's my fault for being lost in my thoughts."

George smiled, "Well, anyways, I just came to say goodbye to you. I hope to see you on the train ride back."

Mai smiled and nodded.

"Oh, by the way, please be careful. I've heard so many stories from the people who have made it out of Hosei Point. I don't want to hear another sad story from one of your friends." George said with a sad look in his eyes.

"I'll be careful. Don't worry; I've had a lot of experience in this type of stuff." Mai said waving at George before walking off to find her boss.  
George watched as Mai walked off with worry in his eyes but quickly picked himself back up saying to himself. 'There's no way that Mr. Shibuya would let anything happen to her.' George jumped back on the train as it began to leave.

Mai looked around she had wondered off away from Takigawa, Ayako, and Masako to try and hunt down her boss. She figured that if Lin was not with them it would mean that he was with Naru. That was one thing she could always count on.

Mai heard voices coming from behind the ticket counter.

"Yes, Naru has been doing fine Mrs. Davis," Lin's voice said.

Mai paused as she recognized the last name of Davis. 'Could it be?' Mai questioned to herself before walking to where the voice was coming from.

There stood Lin with a woman with mid shoulder length wavy brown hair. Mai could see that her eyes were an amazing color of bright green. Mai could feel her mouth hanging open at the sight of the woman. She was…beautiful. She had to be somewhere in her forties at most forty-six. She was tall and her stature seemed to give off an air of brilliance. Mai heard the woman speak to Lin, "I'm so glad to hear that he is doing okay. Ever since Gene…." The woman's voice faltered at the mention of Naru's twin. Lin just nodded.

Mai was mesmerized by the woman's voice. She had a deep British accent but it flowed like water over a smooth surface. Mai could not help but to be amazed by the woman speaking to Lin.

A calm and collected voice came from behind Mai causing her to jump again. 'Really, what is with everyone and their tendency to sneak up on me?' She thought before turning around to see Naru standing with a man in his fifties behind him.

"Have you finished unpacking the equipment?" Naru asked again looking at Mai as though if he did not she would not understand a word he was saying.

Mai paused a moment with her mouth still hung open. Naru touched the bottom of her chin gently pushing it up. "It would be best if you kept your mouth closed while thinking of what to say so that flies don't fly in."

Mai's cheeks, like always flushed a brilliant red. "YOU! YOU! UGHH!" for the first time Mai seemed to have nothing to come back at him with. She was too busy trying to figure out who the man was behind Naru.

"Mai, this is my father, Martin Davis, head of SPR." Mai looked at the man's out stretched hand then back up to his face. Martin Davis smiled kindly at Mai. Mai took his hand and shook it.

Martin Davis had light brown hair which was beginning to go grey at the sides. Even with the grey though he still looked pretty young for his age. Like the other woman he was tall and his accent was clearly heard as well.

When Mai had first met Naru she could tell that there was a difference in his accent but it was so small that sometimes she wondered if she had just imagined it all. Now that she met Mr. Davis she knew that she had not heard wrong.

The woman from before walked up behind Mr. Davis placing a hand on his shoulder. Compared to Mr. Davis she was shorter but still taller than Mai. Mai felt as though she was shrinking as they were growing. Not that she was very tall. In fact, Mai was short for her age.

"So, what are we discussing at this small meeting?" the woman asked again with her smooth voice.

"Mai, this is my Mother, Luella Davis." Naru said noticing that Mai was staring at the woman in amazement.

"Noll, you make it sound so formal, why not call me Mom for once?" Luella Davis said scolding to her son.

Naru did not make a sound to change the way he introduced his mom allowing Luella to sigh in resignation. "I see that has not changed about you." she said with a sad smile.

Mai stared at the two adults standing in front of her. She was shocked to find out that the people that they were meeting up with were Naru's parents. But she was even more surprised to see what they looked like. When Mai had tried to think of what Naru's parents looked like all she could think of was dark shadowy bodies. Nothing could come to mind as to how they would look.

All Mai could do when looked at by Martin and Luella's inquisitive eye was to bow.

"It's nice to meet you! My name is Mai Taniyama. Naru's assistant. " the words came out quick and fast and much higher than her normal voice would be.

The two adults standing in front of her began laughing. "So I see that you gave or son Oliver a new nickname. It works." Luella's voice said from above Mai's bowed head. Mai slowly looked up to see Luella and Martin's smiling faces.

Mai stood back up and grinned, "Well, it kind of just came to me." She said with a smile.

The sound of a throat being cleared brought Mai back to the present situation.

"If you don't mind," Naru began, "I do believe we have a case to solve." Naru stood with his arms crossed. He did not take too kindly to being talked about while he was standing in hearing distance.

A stern look came over Martin's face signaling that he was finally ready to get started on said case.

"OH!" Mai said louder than normally, "I almost forgot why I came looking for you." Mai said.

Naru looked at Mai in wonderment. He really wanted to know how she could go from one topic to another so quickly.

"I was wondering how we are going to document everything. There is no way that we have enough equipment to put up around Hosei Point." Mai asked with a calculating look on her face.

"I believe I can answer that." Martin Davis said with a smile.

Mai looked at Martin with a question forming on her lips.

"What, you don't think that we would come without our own equipment now do you?" he asked, an even bigger grin appearing on his face.

With each smile Mai began to question at the age of Martin Davis. Like his son, he seemed to have his own secrets about him.

~O~

The ride from the train station to their next destination was uneventful. Mai had been chosen to ride in the car with Martin and Luella Davis. As there were two more cars that had been brought for SPR's use, the rest of the team was split up into each of the cars. As of now, there were three cars one with Naru, Lin, and Masako, and the other with Takigawa and Ayako, driving in a single line towards the hotel that Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru had set them up in.

Masako had been adamant about ridding with Naru and Lin. Something about never getting the chance to ride in their car and that she had things to talk about with them. Stuff about the case she said but Mai highly doubted that.

Mai wished that Yasuhara and Father John was with them on the case. She missed Yasuhara's jokes, (Not that she would ever mention that to him). She also missed the kind personality of Father John. She wondered how the case would go without them on it.

Mai stared out the window as the music played silently in the car. Luella and Martin were sitting in the front of the car with Luella arguing with Martin over which way they were supposed to turn next. Martin felt that since he had been to Hosei Point before that he would be the one to know where everything was while Luella pointed out that that was where he was wrong. She felt that he had turned too early and was going to make sure that he knew exactly what she thought.

Mai closed her eyes trying to wonder what it had been like for Naru and Gene when they were younger. Mai found herself thinking of her own child hood. The only memory she could remember was one of her parents and herself going on a trip to Okinawa. Mai had had fun at that trip. She could remember the tiny trinket that her mother had gotten for her at the small shop.

Mai was pulled out of her memory at the sound of the engine turning off.

"We are here Mai." Martin said with his head turned to look at her.

Mai had to hold back a laugh at the sound of Luella silently mumbling, "Yeah, only because I was here to help you find your way."

Mai stepped out of the car and looked at the hotel that stood in front of her. Mai was amazed. The hotel was not what she expected. It looked more like a house with many rooms. Mai looked around at the surroundings. Behind the hotel stood a large amount of trees a small pathway leading into the trees. Mai felt the urge to go and explore the woods but tugged herself back to the present.

Tsubasa Hotaru was standing in front of them.

Mai grimaced. She could still feel the dark presence flying off of him. She wanted nothing better to do than to step back into the car and ask for Naru's parents to get her on the next flight home but she knew better. Mai had to stay. Not because she felt the need to help Tsubasa, but because she felt that there were other people's lives involved. If there was one thing that Mai was well known for, it was her compassion which usually drove her into trouble. Mai forced herself to smile as Mr. Tsubasa said.

"Welcome to Hosei Point. I believe your stay here will be quite interesting. Please follow me and I will show you to your base."

A/N:

I guess I will end the chapter here. I have finally gotten to the point where I was supposed to in the last chapter. Oh well. How did you like the Davis's? I had a really hard time describing them. I had their picture in my head but I could not think of how to put them down in writing. I doubt I described them well enough.

I want to thank crazylittlecheezer for helping me think of how to write my idea for Naru's parents.


	6. Chapter 6 Hotel and clients

**A/N:** _This chapter is dedicated to: Chibi-Kyuubi-Chan, SnowSisters, Arianna Taniyama, crazylittlecheezer and, Jade Starlight for continuing to read my story even if I take a long time to post the chapters. :) Sorry about that._

**I do not own ghost hunt…** _I'd feel really bad if I did, the first season would take ten years for it to finally end, and not because of a large amount of chapters/episodes. :D_

**Chapter Six**

_(Train station scene with Naru.)_

Naru watched as Mai got into his parents dark blue car. He had half the mind to get into the car with her but had a feeling that his parents great detective skills would lead to his eventual discovery (his feelings towards Mai). Naru shuddered at the thought knowing that the reactions of his family and friends would be highly annoying. The torment would not end for many months if not years. The sound of Mai's door closing brought an end to his light at the end of a dark and disturbing tunnel. All that lay before him now was meeting up with the owner of said tunnel. 'Masako Hara'

Naru climbed into the front passenger seat, much to Masako's disappointment, but the glare that she had received from said narcissist was enough to make her consider her-self lucky enough to even be in the same car as her boss.

Masako kept her hand up to her mouth as she sat in the back with her seat belt firmly strapped across her body. Masako could feel anticipation start to rise in her body as she waited for Lin to pull out of the train stations parking lot. She wondered what it would be like to ride in the car alone with Naru. Sure, Lin was inside the car but Masako knew that Lin's un-talkative side would make it feel as though she was alone with Naru.

"So, Ms. Hara, what is it you wanted to discuss with me about the case?" Naru questioned.

Masako felt her heart drop to her stomach as he had called her only by her last name. 'Why is it that he calls Mai by her first name but always calls me by my last name? IT'S SO UNFAIR!' Masako had to pull her-self from her inner-tirade as she tried to come up with the answer to Naru's question.

Naru watched Masako's passive face as she kept her hand up to her mouth. If there was one thing that Naru could not stand about Ms. Hara it was that she was so mysterious in her actions. She was conniving as well. Naru had been somewhat happy when everyone found out who he was if only for the reason that it meant that Ms. Hara no longer had anything on him. Sure it meant a lot of explaining for him to do, but his co-workers, friends as Gene would have called them, all quickly forgave him and once he was back from England, they had quickly joined back up with him to make their old SPR team.

Masako let her hand drop from her mouth as she finally came up with what she wanted to talk about.

"Something seems really off about this place. When I first heard about the case, I was only expecting there to be one or two spirits. But the troubling thing is, is it seems as though there are more than just the few I was expecting…" Masako paused for a moment before adding for dramatic effect, "The presence of so many spirits is so heavy, I feel as though I could faint." Masako watched Naru's face for some look of concern for her but was greatly annoyed at the lack of emotion on his face. In fact, Naru just turned to look out the front window as Lin passed by a large amount of trees.

Naru had to admit though; he was concerned by the recent statement that Ms. Hara had made. All he could imagine was the amount of trouble that Mai would be able to find herself in.

"Mrs. Hara, is there anything else that you feel you need to let me know?" Naru asked not really looking at Masako but a little past her through the window at the other side.

Masako was not one to miss his sideways look. She felt angry at the way he was trying to avoid her, "Even though there are more than one spirit only one is causing the fires. But…" Masako paused as though she was trying to think of how to continue, "There is something off about the other spirits. I think there is a lot more going on then what we have been told." Masako finished.

Naru did not respond. Masako was wondering if Naru had even been listening to her when he turned his head back to the front window.

Masako sat back in a huff as Naru then turned to the very silent Lin. It was clear to Masako that Naru had taken to the task of ignoring her for the rest of the ride. She wondered if this was how Mai was treated whenever she was in their car. She doubted it. In her mind's eye, Masako could see an image of Mai cuddling up with Naru. The thought made Masako want to gag but she, as usual, covered her emotions with a silent hand to her mouth. Masako had the feeling that she had already lost to Mai. But as usual, she just pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She sighed knowing that the back of her mind was getting really plugged up and soon enough she would have to deal with the problem.

"Lin, could you pass me the cell phone?" Naru questioned his guardian.

Lin pulled the phone out of his pocket while expertly still keeping his eyes on the road. Naru took the phone quickly opening it then setting out to dial a number that he had forced himself to memorize.

Ever since SPR had opened, Naru had made sure that he knew all of his associate's phone numbers. He figured that if he ever needed their expertise on anything, which he had completely expected never to happen at the time, he would be able to call them.

The number that Naru dialed now was of a recently graduated teenager who went by the name of Yasuhara. Naru hated having to call him. Especially since this would be his second time to call the overly enthusiastic teenager. Naru listened as patiently as a Narcissist could. At the last possible ring the voice of the overly eager student came forth through the phones speaker.

~o~

Yasuhara was overly proud of himself. In his short life span of 19 years he had not only managed to escape death along with the rest of his class mates (though he thought it sounded cooler if he said he had to face death alone), but also joined up with a team of ghost hunters which lead him to his current job as a temporary assistant of a police detective. It had been during SPR's last case that Yasuhara met Detective Yatzu while investigating the strange occurrences happening at a resident's house in his home town. After the case ended, Yatzu gave Yasuhara the chance to work as an assistant for him during the summer, at least until the police department was able to hire some decent workers.

Yasuhara accepted the job offer with the exception that he was allowed to help out SPR with history background checks. Yatzu agreed stating, "Anything is better than having to deal with the teenagers of this town, I swear, sometimes I wonder if anyone over here has a brain."

Yasuhara agreed with him stating that, "The kids now-a-days really had no class. Back in my days, (which he claimed were back in the 1700's) children of the age of three were reading almanacs for pleasure."

At the moment, Yatzu was in the middle of a case dealing with theft. It had the whole town boggled claiming that it was the return of the haunting. Yatzu knew better though, especially since the said burglar had been carless enough to leave a trail of candy wrappers behind. Yatzu and Yasuhara had tracked the candy back to the town's candy shop. Which is where Yatzu was now at in this everyday boring case?

Yasuhara was beginning to wonder if he should have just stuck with SPR instead of taking up the job when he received a call from his boss. He was surprised at first since he had not expected Mr. Shibuya or Boss, as Yasuhara called him, to ask for his help. He was disappointed when it was only to check up on some people that Naru had been expecting. Yasuhara had been happy at least when he was able to talk to Mai and the others but found it overly interesting when Naru hung the phone up on him.

Yasuhara was a very observant person when it came to the behavior of certain people. Mainly the people who had the most to lose from his pranks. Naru was high on that list, Mai following shortly behind. Something in Naru's tone told him that there was something going on with Naru's relationship with his assistant Mai. If it was the last thing he did, Yasuhara thought, he would find out what that 'something' was.

It was the second call that gave Yasuhara the chance to do some poking and prodding.

"Yasuhara, I would like you to do some research for me on the case that we are on." Naru began

"Ah, I see you miss me already, don't worry; even when I'm far away from you I will always love you. Though, when you hung up on me last time I was wondering if something bad had happened to you. I was planning on hopping on a train and rushing over. Though then I remembered, Mai is with you, I'm sure that she would not let you do anything too unreasonable." Yasuhara waited for an answer. He was overly pleased when there was a slight pause before Naru continued.

"Yasuhara, I don't have time for your games, will you do some research for me or not?" Yasuhara could hear the dangerous tone in his bosses' voice. He knew that he was really pushing it.

"Of course I will do the research for you, what is it that you want me to research?" Yasuhara asked.

"I want you to look up the history of Hosei Point. I'd also like you to look up anything on Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru you can find as well." Naru said clearly trying to relay everything in as small of an amount of time as possible.

"Sure thing boss, ah, before you hang up on me again, please give Mai a kiss for me. I do so ever miss her." Yasuhara said with as much of a mocking tone as he could manage.

'CLICK' Yasuhara gave a small laugh as Naru hung the phone rather abruptly up on him.

'I wonder if that's going to become a habit.' Yasuhara thought out loud.

Suddenly the police station's doors slammed open as detective Yatzu ran in, "I've found the thief!" he shouted out loud.

Yasuhara replied with a grin, "Was it the pied piper?"

Yatzu shook his head in annoyance, "Come on, we don't have much time."

"Yeah, I know, I've just received orders from my boss; have some history to look up. It's good that we will be done with this case. Looks like my luck is picking up."

Yatzu only nodded before quickly running back out of the office.

'Now if only this police station could get some interesting cases as well.

~o~

Naru hung up the phone and set it in Lin's held out hand.

"So, will he be getting the information you wanted?" Lin questioned.

Naru nodded silently wondering if Yasuhara's 'give her a kiss for me' meant that he was putting two and two together. He wouldn't doubt it.

Naru sighed as they finally reached their destination. The hotel sat in front of them. 'Never expected that I would end back here. Naru thought as the car stopped allowing him to get out from the car. Silently followed by a brooding Ms. Hara.

~o~

The group consisting of Naru, Lin, Ayako, Takigawa, Masako, Mai, Luella, and Martin, all walked into the main room of the hotel. Mai was interested to see that just like the outside; the inside also looked very plain. Mai was beginning to wonder if it was even a hotel when a woman in an old fashioned kimono walked from the back through a paper thin door. She knelt down in front of them on a tatami mat in greeting.

"I'm glad that you were able to arrive safely. I will now take you to your rooms so that you can unpack. Afterwards, I will show you to your main base. Once you finish setting up, we will have a dinner prepared for you. If there is anything that we can get you to make your stay more enjoyable, please don't hesitate to ask."

Mai was not sure what she was most surprised by. The fact that this woman was being so professional to them, or the fact that she thought that their stay would be enjoyable with the current situation at hand. Something about the woman made Mai suspicious. Not only that, but no matter where she looked, she could not seem to find Tsubasa Hotaru anywhere. It was like he had just vanished.

Mai turned to ask Masako if she knew where he had gone when she was met by Masako's cold glare.

'What did I do now?' Mai questioned herself. 'Maybe it has something to do with her ride over with Naru. I wonder what they talked about.'

"….And in this room you will find your base." Mai looked up. She had not been paying attention to what the lady in a kimono had been saying. She had a feeling that it would come back to haunt her when later she would have to find her way through the hotel. Mai felt that it would be at least easier than the Nurado case was. She shivered at the memory. Every time she thought about that case it would make her overly queasy.

"Mai, I am not paying you to just stand around in front of the base door." Mai's cheeks reddened when her eyes focused on the black clad teen that was standing in front of her. The rest of the team had continued forward with the tour of the hotel. Mai could see that they were about to turn a corner. Mai felt the need to run towards them but the presence of her boss. The one that she had feelings for standing in front of her watching her face change emotions faster than a street card handler shuffling his or her deck.

"Um… Naru, unless we want to be left behind, we should probably get a move on." Mai said hesitantly still searching Naru's face for a recognizable emotion.

Naru stared at Mai for a second longer before finally replying, "It seems like you are starting to grow some brain cells in that brain of yours." Naru turned before Mai could say anything. He smiled at hearing her rant at him like normal. Though Mai was certain that Naru was not even waiting for her, the truth was that Naru had his ears open for any sound that could be considered Mai falling into trouble. He was not about to leave her alone for a single moment during this case if it was the last thing he did. He would always make sure that someone was with her. Preferably he would be able to be with her at all times but knowing the way the cases tended to end up it would be one of the other members.

The tour finally ended back where they started. Mai looked out the window and could see some men in fire suites waking towards the doors of the hotel. Mai tapped Naru's shoulder and nodded her head in their direction. Naru met the eyes of the main fire fighter before the man reached his hand out to open the door. The small bell rang their entrance, as the three tall men took in the SPR team.

The woman who had been leading them around the hotel nodded a farewell and left to run an errand. The SPR team all turned their attention to the fire men who were now standing in front of them.

"Hello, I'm Kazuya Shibuya." Naru began, "I was called in by Mayor Tsubasa to help with… the occurrence of pyro activity in your town."

Mai sighed in exasperation, 'Leave it to Naru to come up with a description like that, and did he have to be the first to talk?' Mai turned her attention back to the fire men.

All together there were three fire fighters standing in front of the paranormal research team. Mai could see to the front of the house where there was a group of five men waiting for their fellow men to return.

Mai wondered how a group of eight men could keep up with the un-normal behavior of the fires that had been turning their town to ash. One of the men stepped forward. It was easy to tell that he was the fire chief due to the fact that he had an entirely different outfit on. While his men wore kaki colored pants held up by suspenders draped over a white shirt, the chief wore black colored pants held up by a pair of red suspenders draped over a black shirt.

Mai would have thought that the man was another version of Naru if it wasn't for the fact that the man, even though his face was covered in ash, still had the ability to keep a huge smile on his face. Mai wondered how it was that with all that was going on he could have the strength to keep his smile.

"I'm glad to meet you. Even if I'm not sure I believe in all this 'hocus pocus' stuff, if it helps stop these fires, I'm all for it." The chief said with a kind smile.

"I can assure you that what we do does not fall under the category of 'hocus pocus' as you have aptly put it. But, I assure you that we will find out what is going on and put a stop to it." Naru said making it easy to see how he earned his nickname.

Naru had an air of confidence on him that lingered close to self pride. Mai was sure that Naru's head would be swollen close to popping if it was possible. Mai smiled though. She could see why Gene would call Naru an 'idiot scientist.' Naru seemed to not even have an inch of fun included in him. To him everything had to be due to science. For Mai, she sometimes liked to think of her job as magic. It gave her job more of an exciting edge.

The fire chief nodded as though he had no qualms with the team. Mai looked at the other two men standing behind him. One of the men had on glasses and looked as though he would be a very educated man. The other on the other hand, had a grimace on his face. Mai shuddered at the look that he was giving them. It was as though he thought of them as nothing more than trash. Mai could tell that he was deep in thought as though he was wondering whether or not to say something. He seemed to come to a conclusion and finally opened his mouth.

"How-can-you-be-fine-with-these-'_people'_- being- here?" the man questioned with his teeth tightly clenched.

"Not now Shou!" the fire chief fired back.

The man now known as Shou seemed to consider something for another moment then quickly turned and headed back out towards the fire trucks.

"Please excuse him for his rude behavior. As you can see he would be one of the many who can't hold their tongue when confronted with something different." The chief said, "Ah, how rude of me, I should have told you my name, I'm Hideyoshi Ichiro. You can go ahead and call me Ichiro though. I liked to be on first name bases."

Naru cleared his throat, "Can you tell us anything about the fires. For example, does there seem to be a pattern in the buildings that are being burned down, or is there anything that occurs before the fires break out?"

Ichiro seemed to get a concentrated look on his face. We have not been able to find a pattern but there is something that happens before one of the fires start."

Naru's eyebrow raised in interest.

"A voice seems to resonate throughout the entire town. No one is able to understand what it is saying. Though Mayor Tsubasa thinks that it is just gas escaping from the building that is about to burn down. To tell you the truth, and you did not hear this from me, I don't believe what Mayor Tsubasa says. There is something…" Ichiro was stopped by a hand being placed on his shoulder. He turned to look at the fire fighter who was standing behind him. Everyone turned to look where said fire fighter was looking to see Mayor Tsubasa heading their way. "Ah… thanks Jin."

Mayor Tsubasa entered the hotel with a smile plastered on his face. "So, I see you are settling in all right. I hope that Fire Chief Hideyoshi was able to feel you in."

Mai shuddered again. What was it about the Mayor that made her so worried?

"Yes, they were able to get us the information we need. Though, I would like to ask for a map of the town." Naru said with an overly passive voice.

"Yes, certainly." Mayor Tsubasa with a condescending tone lacing his voice. He turned the fire chief who quickly pulled out the map handing it to Naru's outstretched hand.

"It was nice meeting you Mr. Shibuya," Ichiro said before turning around towards the outside door. "I'll have to be going now though. My men would probably like to get washed up before the next fire." Ichiro headed out the door followed closely by Jin.

Mai could tell that at the appearance of Mayor Tsubasa, Ichiro's demeanor had changed. "What was going on?"

**A/N:**

_Again sorry for taking so long on this chapter. If you're wondering if the case has started yet, then yes…yes it has. Though it really started on the second or third chapter. This is just getting more into it. I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try, but can't promise, to get the next chapter out quickly, knowing me; it probably won't come out that fast…_

_What happened to the time when I could post a chapter every day?_

**R&R**

_**Any questions**, just ask and I'll try and explain as best as I can. _

_oh, and don't worry, Martin and Luella will have more of a part. :D_


	7. Chapter 7 setting up the cameras

A/N:

Well, here is the next chapter. This chapter is dedicated to….the characters for having such great personalities.

I really seemed to have had writers block when I was first trying to write this. The characters might have a little characterization problems to them. For example, if for some reason Naru starts jumping up and down rubbing his stomach and patting his head, know that, that is the reason for it. (Just kidding, I would never make Naru do that. It was just an extreme example of what you might find in this chapter. :D

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT!**

Quick re-run:

SPR has received a case from the Mayor of Hosei Point. Ten years ago, a fire had been raging through the town causing many of the homes and buildings to burn down. During the fire, a young boy by the name of Orion had been killed in the flames. He had been communicating with a spirit. Who is of yet unknown to the readers (although you might already know who the spirit is) About three years before the decade old fire had begun, another boy by the name of Ayden had moved to Hosei point with his family one parent American one parent Japanese. The Davis family had also taken a case out there having to deal with a poltergeist. Gene had met Ayden and had quickly become friends with the boy.

Mayor Tsubasa has been known for his ruthless actions against people in their teenage years. He had been sending 'troubled Youth' as he called them to a boarding school that he had set up. Gene and Ayden had caught the eyes of Tsubasa Hotaru. Mayor Tsubasa suggested to Martin Davis that he should send his son to the boarding school. Martin declined the offer. While Gene was able to escape from being sent to the boarding school, Ayden did not have the same luck. After he arrived at the boarding school, a year later, it was discovered that he had died from unknown causes.

Ten years after the fire at Hosei Point, another fire has begun. SPR is now staying in Hosei Point in order to find out the cause of the fires. What is it that is being said before a fire starts, who are some of the citizens' of the town and what do they know about the fire if anything. These questions and more will be answered in this chapter. Though some will go into the next chapter.

(Start Ghost hunt theme music)

**There's a very long chapter ahead. Read at your own risk. :D**

**Chapter Seven**

The main base was quickly set up. Naru sat looking at the map that he had hung on the wall. With the hotel manager's help, he was able to place pins in the areas where the fires had already destroyed the buildings. All in all, there were ten burn area's all together, and exactly as the fire chief had said, there did not seem to be a single pattern in the buildings that were being burned. Naru did not want to check off a pattern yet though. If it was possible, he wanted to talk to the owners of the buildings but he was not sure if Mayor Tsubasa had already sent them out of town or if they were still being held on suspicion of arson.

Mai watched as her boss sat looking at the map. He had yet to tell anyone what to do. Takigawa and Ayako were sitting on a soft brown couch that sat in the middle of the base. Ayako had taken to arguing with Takigawa over some trivial matter that happened on the ride over to the hotel. Mai was slightly interested in what occurred but her mind was still wondering over what it was that Naru could be thinking of so deeply. 'Probably the case.' She said to herself resolutely then turned to look at Masako who like her was also staring at Naru but every so often Masako would turn to glare daggers at Mai. Mai wondered if she had done something to piss Masako off. It seemed as though she had grown even more possessive over Naru since the last case. Lin was the next to be observed by Mai's wondering eyes. As usual he was typing away on his computer not even stopping in his typing when the base room door opened to allow Luella and Martin Davis into the room.

"So, Naru, it seems as though all the owners of the burned down homes are still here in Hosei Point. It turns out that they were one of the first to be suspected by Tsubasa Hotaru. Though, if I may say, his choices in suspect are very random. I'm starting to wonder if he even suspects them." Luella stated sitting down next to Takigawa and Ayako who had finished their bickering at the entrance of Naru's parents.

Mai grinned when she noticed that Naru's parents had begun calling him by the same nickname that she used. It was obvious to both Mai and Lin that Naru had noticed the same thing when a hint of a grimace crossed his face. Though Mai thought it even more hilarious when Luella gained an evil grin on her face. Mai was beginning to see where Gene got his humor from.

Naru stood up from his chair and walked over towards a window that sat on the opposite side of the room across from the open door. He stared at the empty street for a moment to completely clear his thoughts. He had to agree with his mom though. There was defiantly something off about the Mayor's suspects. It was almost as if he randomly chose people out of a hat but only a select people. He turned around with his back leaning against the wall and his arms crossed in front of him.

"Now if you are all done sitting around doing nothing, I would like to get this case started." He said with a calm and collected look on his face. There was also an air of importance hanging about him that got under Mai's skin.

Before Mai could say anything Martin spoke up while Monk placed a calming hands on her shoulder.

"Naru, if I may say before you begin ordering everyone to begin a job, I believe it would be a good idea to use Lin's Shiki's on this case." Martin said with as calm and a collected look on his face. Yet there was something about Martin that made everyone realize that even if Naru was the boss of SPR, Martin still held cards in his hand that Naru did not have.

Mai had, as usual, quickly calmed down when this new bit of information had been stated.

"Why do we need to use Lin's Shiki's?" Mai asked. She could not see how Lin's captured spirits could help on the case.

Naru, who had seen where his dad had been heading with his statement, answered Mai. Naru was overly found of Mai's ignorance, it always gave him something to tease her about, although, Naru knew that he loved even more the way her face would flush at one of his quick witted replies. "I'll explain it for the ignorant of mind," Pausing only a little to watch Mai's face explode with color as he had known it would he continued, "Lin's Shiki's will be able to tell us more than a stagnant camera would be able to. For example, we can only place so many cameras around the town in order to capture activity. Since we have no pattern to go off of, we might not even have a camera at the right place when a fire begins. If we use Lin's shiki's though, we will be able to be notified when a fire is about to start."

Naru watched Mai's nose crinkle in confusion for a moment before the folds in her nose smoothed out to show that she had finally understood.

"But wait a minute," Monk asked as though something did not completely make since, "Even if we have the Shiki's out there and they notify us about a fire, how will be able to get to the fire in time to record any of the event?"

"Last time I checked, that was what I hired you for. I will be setting up a schedule of rounds. Each and every one of you will at one time or another patrol the city. If we receive a notice of a fire, it will be your job to head towards the scene to record information on it." Naru said with an underlying smirk.

"YOU LITTLE!" Monk began when Ayako took over.

"First of all Brat, we are not your employee's we have our own businesses to take care of we only help you out because we want to. And second of all, I would think you would have more manors when around your parents." Ayako said with a flare of her wrist towards said parents to add effect.

Naru ignored Ayako's rant to turn towards Lin.

"She's got a point there Oliver." Luella said with a frown on her face. She had returned to Naru's real name to add effect. There was something in the way that she said it that made Mai feel as though she did not ever want to mess with her. Mai was beginning to like her more and more.

Naru paused before continuing on with what he was going to ask Lin.

'WOW!' Mai thought to herself with surprise, 'Naru actually reacted to what his mother said, even if it was only a small reaction, that's considered tantamount in Naru's case.'

"As I was going to ask," Naru began, "Can we use your Shiki?" Naru asked looking at Lin again.

"That's fine with me but that also means that we have less protection here. Is that alright with you?" Lin asked staring up from his computer screen for the first time since they had finished setting up base.

Naru nodded. He hated to admit that Lin was right. Naru would rather have the protection around the base where Mai was then out around the town patrolling. But, if he had actually said that, his parents would wonder where his judgment was on that. Naru knew that his father would feel that with the amount of people they had with some sort of PT, there would already be enough protection. Naru felt that if he had decided to keep the Shiki's his father might read more into it. He was not yet ready to let his parents into his relationship. Though, the way that Luella kept on staring from Naru to Mai really made him wonder if she had already figured something out. He would not put it past her. She always seemed to know more about him and his brother than even they knew and that was saying something since they both had their own little connection with each other and tended to know quite a lot about themselves and the other.

Lin nodded in understanding turning back to his computer he let out a small whistle letting his shiki know what to do. Lin noticed that the Shiki hesitated a little as though not understanding why he was sending them out without him. They finally consented and sped out the door. Lin watched as Mai followed them with her eyes. 'Can she see them?' he thought to himself. He knew that they were invisible to the naked eye unless he wanted someone to see them. 'If she can see them then that means that she's growing in her power even more.' He watched Mai for a moment longer than turned back to his computer screen where his fingers had never stopped typing (leave it to Lin to type without looking: D)

Mai watched as Lin silently whistled. It was such a beautiful sound. Peaceful and quite. Almost like a smooth flowing river. She turned to see what the others thought about the sound but it was almost as though no one else had heard it. Well, that is except for Naru. She saw his head slightly lift as though trying to hear the sound clearer. Mai felt herself shiver as the room seemed to condense a little. It wasn't cold but it was not hot either. Mai felt herself want to give a small cry of surprise when she saw what appeared before Lin. It was defiantly not the same small orb lights that she had seen in the Nurado (sp?) case. These 'things' were more defined. Mai could now see an actual… 'It'… to tell the truth, she did not know what to call them. They looked like tiny heads of humans though they seemed to have some sort of animalistic characteristics to them. Mai would almost say part dog but she could not tell in the slightest.

She turned to see if Naru saw them as well. On the outermost shell of Naru, one would not be able to tell but Mai could see the way that Naru stared at the area that he could. There was no similar stare coming from her companions. Excluding Luella and Martin but Mai found it even harder to see what they were thinking.

Mai watched as the Shiki left the room floating gently past her. The room began to go back to the normal room temperature once they left. Mai let out a sigh and turned back to see what Naru had in store for the rest.

"All right, now that that is taken care of, we will now start setting up the cameras. The teams are as followed Ayako, you will be with Takigawa. Mai laughed when Ayako glared daggers at said monk. Takigawa just shrugged his shoulders as though he understood his new found horrible task. Martin, you will be with Mai. Martin stared at his son in annoyance, "That's Father to you." Naru ignored his father's comment and moved on. Mrs. Hara, you will be with…. Naru was not able to finish when Masako suddenly spoke up, "I'll be with you." She said it so resolutely that it felt as though she was daring Naru to argue with her. Everyone stared from Masako to Naru trying to see who would break first. Mai's eyes widened as she swore that there was a smirk laid across Naru's face.

"Mrs. Hara, you will be with Lue…." Again Naru was interrupted but this time from his mom.

"As your father said, we are your parents I would appreciate it if you called me mother, mom is fine as well, whatever you feel most comfortable with." Luella said with a small glint in her eyes stating she would not be trifled with.

Mai almost burst out laughing. The look on Naru's face was hilarious. It was as though he was contemplating throwing his parents out of the room.

"Mrs. Hara," Naru continued with an exasperated sigh, "You will be with my mother."

Mai watched as Luella's face lit up with a grin. Masako's face on the other hand….well, she was not completely sure what her face shown. She had quickly covered her face with her hand to hide whatever scowl she now had.

"Now, if you're all done lazing around, it's best if you get started. We don't have all day and last time I checked, this town is pretty big."

Everyone sighed standing up from where ever they were and headed off towards the town carrying four cameras's each in their arms. All together there were 24 cameras. Two were left at base to use as extras in case they needed them. Naru watched as Mai headed out the door with his father. He wished that he could be with her but he knew that his father was the next best protection. He would know what to do if something happened with Mai. He was defiantly not worrying about the protection part. The part he was worrying about was what Mai would get into. If she did that was. Knowing the statistics with her though, it was highly probable.

~8~

Takigawa and Ayako headed towards the first house on their list. According to Naru, it belonged to one of the fire fighters of the town. Takigawa wondered which fire fighter it was. He hopped that it was not the rude one. He defiantly did not want to have to deal with him.

"This place is so beautiful!" Ayako exclaimed.

Takigawa stared at Ayako in disbelief, "Are we looking at the same town?" He asked with sarcasm in his voice.

Around them there were burned down homes, businesses, and parks intermittently throughout where they were walking.

Ayako smacked the back of Takigawa's head in exasperation, "I'm talking about the forest 'Oba-sama." She growled out.

(Probably have the 'sama', and 'san' messed up. You know what I meant though.)

"Now who are you calling an Oba-san? Grandma!" Takigawa argued back. Before Ayako could hit him again, he quickly dodged out of the way, "Just kidding, just kidding." He said with his hands raised in the air as a sign of surrender. "Now what about the forest?" He asked staring at the forest that lay behind some of the burned down areas. He had to admit though. It was defiantly a pretty cool forest.

"It's very peaceful. I'm amazed that it was able to stay that way even with the fires. Usually if a fire hits a town, the trees would show some kind of damage even if the flames had not hit them. They defiantly would not have stayed this clean." Ayako said with a happy gleam in her eyes.

"Could that be the reason why the forest did not burn down?" Takigawa asked.

"Could what be the reason?" Ayako asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Takigawa sighed. He really had no clue why they both fought so much. Probably because it was fun, he thought lightly to himself.

"The peaceful feeling if I must ask. Could there be spirits in the trees that protected themselves from the fire. Or like that article you read could it be the spirits themselves that caused the fire?" Takigawa asked.

Suddenly Ayako smacked the back of his head again. "TREE SPIRITS DO NOT CAUSE FIRES!" Ayako yelled loudly enough that anyone on the street could have easily heard them. That was if there were people on the streets but the truth was that the town had become very much like a ghost town.

"Ok, Ok, I get the idea. I did not mean to offend you and your little forest friends." Takigawa said quickly jumping away when Ayako tried to hit him for his rude remark.

"And, no, tree spirits do not stop a fire from harming them. The trees that they live in are very susceptible to the elements around them. That is why I can find it hard to find a pure forest when I need one." Ayako said taking a breath to calm her down from her little 'Attack the Monk' episode.

"That would be why you are mostly un-helpful in our cases right." Takigawa covered his head waiting for the sound and pain that came from her attacks. None came though he looked over to her to see what she was doing.

Ayako just stared at Monk with a grin, "I can't understand you sometimes, why is it that even when you know you are going to be hit by me you still say your pea brained comments?" She asked.

Takigawa shrugged slowly letting his hands fall from his head. "It just comes out, anyway, are you going to finish explaining?"

This time Ayako was able to land another hit to his stomach. Monk groaned clamping his hands around his stomach.

"As I was saying, the tree spirits do not stop the fires from burning them down. They understand the nature of life and that at one moment, their tree could be standing for 100,000 years and the next it could be completely gone. They don't like messing with the way of life. Or the circle of life if you would rather explain it that way. (Before anyone asks, I do not own lion king or its 'circle of life' song :D)

Takigawa nodded but then asked, "If they do not like messing with the way life is then why is it they help you when you call upon them?" he asked.

"That's because it is not part of the life's circle for human spirits to remain here for long periods of time after they die. When I call upon them they help because they want to put things back to the way they are supposed to be. They restore things. Very much like their tree forms. How the leaves of the trees produce oxygen for the atmosphere. Humans have been known to make a mess of things and the tree spirits just try and fix it again."

Takigawa turned back towards the trees. He had to admit, some of what Ayako did really sounded cool. Though he also had to admit, it did not help when there were not enough pure forests for her to use during a case. 'I guess that kind of also sucks for Ayako. Especially since there were not that many pure forests left around for her to use.

Takigawa and Ayako finally arrived at their destination to find a fairly normal looking home. It was painted brown with brown shingles. It was very western looking to everyone on the outside. Ayako and Takigawa sighed walking up to the home they wondered if anyone would be home. Knocking on the door they waited a few seconds when the door finally opened.

"I was told you guys would be here." Came an overly annoyed voice. Takigawa sighed, 'guess it's just not my day.' Standing in front of them was said annoying fire man. To be exact, the fire man they had come to know as Shou. (Hey, that rhymed, now it's time to learn his full name :D)

Ayako and Takigawa had been allowed into the room only to be glared at by the man standing in front of them. "If you could hurry this up, I'd much appreciate it. I've got to be heading back into work.

"This won't take too long." Takigawa said trying his best to hold in the comments that were coming to his mind.

"While we set these camera's up, we will need to ask you some questions?" Ayako said staring at the man with what Takigawa liked to call, 'Devil Smile' it was a very convincing smile but underneath was a woman just waiting to hit you on the backside of your head.

"What type of questions? Please tell me not the 'hocus pocus' types of questions, cause let me tell you one thing, I don't believe in any of that stuff." He said with both of his arms flying out to the side as if motioning to quite a large amount of trash lying in front of him.

Ayako sighed, "First off, how about you tell us your name, unless you would like us to go ahead and call you Shou.

Takigawa had begun to set up the camera inside the house. Only one camera was really needed for this house since there was only one floor to it. The camera itself was covered with a flame resistant coating. The only thing that would burn or crack would be the lens, which could easily be replaced later. The lens itself though would be able to tell them how hot it got. If it got hot enough the lens would crack. If not then it would not crack.

"My name is Ty Shou; I would appreciate it if you called me Mr. Ty, thank you very much." He said with a gruff voice.

Again sighing she wondered if there was any point in asking any questions.

"What can you tell me about the fires?" She asked

"Well for one, it's not caused by any of your fake spirits." He stated with a grin on his face as wide as a river bank is long.

"Anything else Mr. Ty?" Ayako asked wishing that Takigawa would hurry up and get the camera set up. He seemed to be busy arguing with Lin over how the camera should be placed. Naru had given each of them a walkie-talkie to carry with them at all times.

"Well, as I'm sure you were told, there does seem to be some type of voice played across the town whenever a fire is about to begin. Something about, "Why do you Lie!" it's probably some teenage punk playing something over the speaker phone. There's more that is said but we never are able to hear it all." Mr. Ty scratched his head as though he was annoyed over what he was thinking.

"Finished." Takigawa said with a triumphant smile.

"Good, now get out." Ty Shou said pointing to the door with a malevolent grin on his face.

Ayako and Takigawa gladly walked out of his home to head to the next.

"What do you think that meant?" Ayako asked not really looking at anyone in particular.

"What… about the 'why do you lie' bit?" Takigawa asked.

Ayako only nodded

"Well I'm not sure, but I'm sure that Naru would be able to make some sense out of it.

~8~

Luella smiled while walking. Her gaze was on the young lady who stood walking in front of her. The way Masako walked was without a doubt very prim and proper like. She wondered how it was possible for one as young as her to have been brought up in such a way. Not only that, the clothes that she wore defiantly did not look like it would be comfortable. Though then again, nothing about her looked comfortable. Most young people would stand in a very relaxed manner whether it is with their foot held out to the side with most of the weight on one foot or whether it is with their feet spread apart. They would normally stand with their arms in some type of pose. With one arm on the waist while the other hangs down or most commonly held loosely at the sides. Masako on the other hand was very uptight and impersonal. Her hands were held in front of her at all times. Only moving to cover her face at moments when she did not want to show her emotions. She walked like that too. Never moving her arms from her front. It was a very conservative posture. Her head was also held high. Almost like if she looked down she would see something she did not want to see.

Of course, this was not the first time that Luella had ever met the girl. With Masako being on the television quite a bit, she had been aloud quite a bit of freedom. For example, When Masako had seen a demonstration of Eugene on the said television; she had demanded and had been quickly given the chance to meet him. Eugene, in the smallest amount of words as possible, did not like the girl. He had been quick to ask that everyone forget that he had ever met her. Luella thought this funny since Gene had normally gotten along with everyone. Oliver at the time had taken the chance to joke around with Gene about the encounter. Noll had not always been so impersonal.

(I'm not sure how the meeting with Masako and Gene or Masako and Oliver had gone. Not even sure which one she had met I just know that she had to have met one of them. So hopefully you can excuse this most likely out of story scene.)

Luella thought that it was interesting how both Masako and Naru had some of the same characteristics now. Neither would give up on something they wanted for example, and Luella smiled at this the fact that it was so obvious that Noll had the tiniest, well, she could not say that it was the tiniest, it was in fact quite a remarkably huge , crush on Mai. And in Masako's point and case, her crush on Noll. Though Luella was not certain if it really was a true crush for Masako. Sure, she put up all the emotions but Luella felt it was more of a, 'I won't be beaten by anyone else' type of feeling. Mai was the perfect rival for her in that sense. Especially sense Mai seemed unknowingly unwilling to let Masako have Noll.

Luella was defiantly exasperated by both Noll's and Mai's way of going about their relationship. They were both unwilling to ask the other anything. Though, Mai had already asked Noll. That was quite apparent when Oliver had returned home from England. It was almost as though he was brooding about something. When asked, Lin had explained the situation that had happened in Japan. Luella let out a loud sigh, if it was one thing she could not stand, it was the strange comparative nature that the twins had had with each other.

"Mrs. Davis, is there something wrong?" Masako asked finally turning around to look at her companion.  
Luella was surprised to see the slightest hint of worry on Masako's eyes.

"Ah, sorry about that dear, just thinking about things. So, has there been any spirits wondering about lately?" Luella asked quickly directing the conversation away from her previous topic.

"Well…" Masako said bringing her hand back up to her mouth to hide the emotion she was apparently showing. "There is something strange about Mayor Tsubasa, I'm not quite sure tho…" Masako had then been interrupted by Luella.

"Ah, about that, Martin and I already know about that, to tell you the truth, when we had come out here the first time we had noticed the strange behavior of said Mayor. We had no grounds though. No prove of anything going on. This is why Martin had to leave at the time. It's so sad with what's been going on though…" a far off look appeared in Luella's eyes, "Too lose a son is a horrible thing to have happen."

Masako knew that Luella was talking about the young boy named Ayden who had somehow died thirteen years ago. Thirteen! That's right it has been thirteen years sense Ayden had mysteriously died. What an unlucky number that is. Although I am not very superstitious, I do have to say that the number thirteen has always held a bad feeling for me. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fires starting up again. No, there has to be something else. What is it though? What is it that I am noticing about Mayor Tsubasa.

"Mrs. Davis…" Masako began,

"Masako, you can call me Luella, I'm not one for being overly formal." Luella said with a smile.

Masako covered a grim expression with her hand. 'Why can't Naru be the same way?' "Um, yes, Luella, what is it that you guys found out about Mayor Tsubasa?"

"To tell you the truth, nothing." Noticing the expression that Masako was trying to hide Luella continued, "All we knew was what Gene told us."

Before Luella could finish they had arrived at the place that Naru had asked them to set up a camera at. Luella would have finished if it was not for the little girl who had at one moment come running out of the house letting the front door slam itself close, then at the next possible moment come slamming to a halt before letting out a strangled surprised yell and running back inside crying, "THE MONSTERS ARE BACK!"

Luella and Masako looked at each other with worried looks on their faces before heading towards the door that had again, been slammed shut. A moment later a woman with a worried face opened the door to great the people the young girl had claimed to be monsters.

At close inspection the woman looked like she would be in her mid forties. At least, if anything, no-where's near her fifties. She wore a plaid maroon vested shirt with blue jean pants. Her shoes were the normal white. If Luella had anything to say about it she looked very normal in what she wore. Her hair, although it was tied back it had strands coming out at all sides. Altogether the woman looked much stressed. Her eyes seemed to have permanent strain to them. The skin in between her eyes was crinkled to show the worry that was obviously pouring out of her. When she began to speak it was with a soft trimmer as though she was trying to keep up her appearance but sadly failing at it.

"Um… hello, sorry about my daughter's outburst, she's usually not like this but…" she paused. Clearly trying to get back into the right frame of mind.

"Ah, don't worry about it; she's just a young kid. I won't judge just because she is doing her job and being a kid." Luella said putting her hand out in front of her towards the woman. My names Luella and my friend here is Masako Hara.

Masako was happy at being called a friend. It was the first time she had really heard those words used towards her. Sure, in some strange way you could say that Mai was her friend, but she was also her rival and Masako liked to keep the two separate.

"May we come in? Mrs.…?" Masako began slightly holding back on the name since she was not quite sure of the name.

"Ah, you can just call me Yuki. My daughter…" Yuki paused when small hands were seen wrapping themselves around her lower legs. "Ah, here she is, this is my daughter Misuki." (I need to make a character catalog. I'm not sure which names I have already used.) Misuki peered around her mother's legs, her big brown eyes staring up at the woman in front of them.

"Hi, I'm five, did you scare away the monsters yet?" the little girl asked in a small voice.

"Ahh… She is so adorable." Luella cooed, "No sweetie, not yet but soon okay?" she finished with a soft and comforting voice.

The little girl just nodded as though she understood the enormity of the conversation then with a great smile she grabbed onto one of Masako's hands and pulled her inside, "Come this way, I want to show you my princess castle!" the girl yelled out in joy, then pausing only a little, giving Masako time to find her feet again she asked, "Are you a princess~?" The girl then began pulling Masako towards her room again towards the said castle much to Masako's embarrassment.

Yuki's eyes grew wide at what her daughter was now doing. Before she could apologize though Luella let out a soft laugh.

"I remember when my children were at that age." (Not sure when it was that Oliver and Gene were adopted so for this story at least let's say around four.)

"Your children?" Yuki asked, glad for the distraction from her young daughter.

"Ah, yes, twins. I lost one of them recently though." Luella said again gaining a far off look.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Yuki said looking down at her feet as though she understood the pain that Luella was feeling. Luella put that to the back of her mind for the moment. She would find out about it later.

"Well, anyways, I should probably start working on setting up the equipment. I don't want my other son to start nagging me on why the cameras are not being set up.

Yuki nodded with a smile and showed Luella around the house. Although the outside of the house looked western, the inside was in a traditional Japanese style. With wide open windows pointing to the back yard and tatami mats placed across the floor.

Luella realized that it would be difficult to place only one camera inside the house. She would have to later bring more cameras for the house in question. Heading towards Misuki's room Luella stopped hearing what the young girl was saying to Masako.

"And then…and then… a fire will spring up," The little girl held up her finger as though trying to point out a very important part in a conversation, "But not until the voices say, " While all the children Cry!" the girl took on a very confused look. "Why are the children crying?" the girl asked looking at Masako with a very sad look on her face.

Luella took this time to enter and save Masako from her most certain doom of becoming the young girls play thing.

"Hey, you girls having fun?" Luella asked.

All concern quickly flew off the young girls face, "YEAH!" She cheered throwing her body into her exuberant cheer.

"Well then, isn't that great. Though we need to be going now. It was really nice to meet you Misuki." Luella said giving Masako the chance to stand up and straighten up her much winkled kimono.

"AHHH~" the young girl pouted, "Will you come again?" she asked.

"Most defiantly." Luella said with a smile on her face. The girl quickly cheered up again grabbing onto Masako's free hands.

"YOU HERE THAT PRINCESS, WE WILL GET TO PLAY AGAIN!" Misuki dropped Masako's hands to run out of her room and give her mother the great news.

"Hey mom, you hear that, they will be coming back again. They won't leave us like brother did."

The pair of SPR employee's heard the mother gasp then quickly catches herself. Yes, isn't that great Misuki?"

Luella and Masako were than excused out of the house. With a warm invitation to come back again.

As Masako and Luella left, Luella turned to Masako, "What do you think that was about?"

Masako looked back over towards the house where the mother had just silently closed the door.

"I'm not sure, but there is defiantly a strange presence in that house.

**~8~**

Mai walked down the street taking quick looks at the man who walked behind her. He was either very unobservant or a very great actor. It was almost as though he did not notice the way she had kept on looking at him as though he was a rare new breed of an animal.

Martin on the other hand had actually noticed the way that Mai was staring at him. He actually found it quite funny the way her face moved when she did so. She would bite her bottom lip as though she wanted to ask him something but did not know if she should. Her eyes would slowly move to the side as though she was trying to see something out of the corner of her eye then quickly dart back when she thought that he had finally noticed her. If Martin had to say what she reminded him of, he would have to say a rabbit that has just noticed a coyote about to pounce. Though if anything, he wished that she did not see him that way. He really wondered what Noll could have done to make Mai act this way.

"Is there something you want to know Mai?" Mai jumped as though she had just been caught red handed with her other hand in the cookie jar.

"Um…well, it's just…" Mai seemed as though she was having a really hard time putting her question together.

"Don't worry; I won't bight your head off. I'm sure my son has done more than his fair share of that." Martin said with a small chuckle in his voice.

"Well, it's just, well, what is it that you do exactly?" Mai asked. She knew what Lin had told her, which to be exact, was not much. All he had said was that Naru's parents were professors. That did not do much to quench Mai's thirst for knowledge. Especially knowledge that had to do with a certain tea loving Narcissist.

"Well, let's see here, as I'm sure you figured out, my wife and I are both paranormal researchers. It was during our research that we came across the boys." Martin said getting a very concentrated look on his face. It was almost as if he was getting ready to tell a great story and he wanted to make sure that he got all the facts right. He looked up at the clouds as though they would give him a hint as where to go from there. "We, that is, my wife and I, met the boys at an old museum. You see, we had been called to investigate some strange occurrences that were going on in the museums mythology room. We had only been there for a day when we realized that most of the occurrences were occurring whenever a young boy was in the room. Well, saying young would not be politically correct. I would have to say he was very young. He could not have been any older than four at the time. He may have been five but it's hard to say, we don't really have the birth certificate for the boys."

Mai gasped, 'so he's talking about the boys still.' "Then that means…" Mai said looking at Martin with interest.

"Exactly, the one causing the strange occurrences was a young boy known by the name of Oliver. He did not understand what he was doing. In fact, the PK would just work on its own. That was the extent of his powers. It was so great that he could not completely handle it on his own." Martin cleared his throat so that he could continue the conversation. "Anyways, we tracked the young boy down to a local Orphanage. It turns out that Noll had been going to the museum quite a lot. In fact, he seemed to have a really high IQ. He did not completely understand everything in the museum but he at least had the brains to actually be able to entertain him-self there. It was at the Orphanage that we met his brother Eugene. It turned out that Eugene had the power to cancel out most of the power that his brother had trouble with but he was so underdeveloped in that area of expertise that he was not always of much use to his brother. It was then that we decided to adopt the twins. Luella had always wanted to start a family and this just gave us the chance to do so."

"So from there on, Lin taught the boys how to develop their power?" Mai asked. She was overly excited that she was finally able to decode some of the code that made up Naru.

"Well, in a way yes. My wife and I could have done it ourselves. But when the twins got older, we realized that we would not always be able to be around them. That is why we hired Lin. He was an experienced Onmyoji, especially for his age. He was only seventeen at the time while the boys were eight."

Mai tried to imagine an eight year old Naru and Gene but found it difficult to do so. She could not help but laugh at the serious expression that was popping up on her imagined child Naru. Mai watched as a fire truck passed slowly by her. Martin waited to continue until the fire truck had completely passed.

"Lin was able to train Noll further than we could in some areas. While Gene was finally able to help his brother in many more situations. It was during this time that we received the case near Hosei Point."

The two had finally made it to their destination. Mai really wished that she had more time to ask questions. So many questions had been flying through her brain that she was sure that Martin would be able to see it on her face. "One more question?" Mai asked with a childlike tone to her voice.

Martin laughed but decided to humor the teenage girl a little longer.

"You said that you and your wife were able to train Naru and Gene in their powers. How is that possible? Unless you have powers of your own and therefore know how to control them." Mai asked. She then regretted asking when his face dropped a few inches as though he was remembering a painful memory.

"Well, to answer your question, no, we do not have any sort of PK, let alone the type of pre cognitive powers that you have. To tell you the truth, the reason we knew how to handle the twins was because of someone very close to us… though that's another story. I'll have to tell you about it some other time. For now, we should get this camera's set up." Martin turned from the anxious looking girl and towards the home that towered in front of them.

If the two had anything to say about the house it defiantly looked very haunted. Mai shivered at the feeling that suddenly enveloped her. It was almost as though she had been metaphorically dumped in ice water. Martin watched Mai's face contort in almost a worried way. He brushed it to the side though if something were to happen, he would make sure that Mai was safe. At the moment though, he really needed to pay attention to what they were doing at the moment.

Both Martin and Mai finished walking up towards the door of the house. The porch that stood in front of them was very old, as though it had stood there from the beginning days of Hosei Point. Mai was about to knock on the front door when Martin quickly grabbed her wrist to prevent her from doing so. Mai looked at Martin with confused eyes which then turned even more confused when he picked up a rock from the ground near the porch. He held the rock in his hand and knocked gently on the door causing the rock to go straight through the door. Mai's eyes widened at the sight of jagged splinters that were left lining the hole. If Mai had knocked on the door she was not to certain that her hand would not have been the one to go through the door.

"Looks like no one's home." Martin said with a warm smile on his face. Before clearing away the splinters and opening the door by pushing his arm through the hole. Before he opened the door completely though Mai watched as his face contorted in what looked like excruciating pain while crying out, "IT'S GOT ME, IT'S GOT ME!"

Before Mai had the chance to scream in horror though Martin burst out laughing, "Got you." he said cleanly pulling his hand out from the hole in the door and wiggling all five of his fingers at the young girl in front of him.

At the exasperated look that shown across Mai's face Martin raised his shoulders as though he was questioning her, "What, just because I'm old, it does not mean that I can't have fun as well. Anyways, you looked to serious."

Mai's face turned a bright red while her hands clenched in a tight fist, "OF ALL THE…I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU… WHY YOU… AURGH!" Mai obviously could not complete her sentence. If it had been Naru who had done that, though she highly doubted he would due to his overly serious self, she would have hit him. No pun intended. Mai blushed though. Who was she kidding; she would not be able to hit Naru. If there was anything that Mai could not imagine, it was hitting Naru's overly handsome face…Woooh, hold on a minute. Mai shook her head trying to clear the thoughts that were flying quickly through her mind. She would not let herself go there. At least not on this case. She decided then and there that while Naru's parents were around she would try her best to act professional. Even if Naru's parents did not seem to have the same plans as her.

Martin grinned at the emotions playing out on her face. Maybe that was why Noll loved her. Martin was not idiot, as his son would aptly call one who was dumb in mind, he knew when his son was interested in something and Oliver was defiantly interested in Mai. Martin had been really interested in the fact that it seemed as though Oliver had even noticed his feelings for Mai. Even if he tried to hide it, it was overly obvious to the man who had raised the boy for nearly fourteen years what his son might be thinking. Although, Martin had to thank Lin a little since it had been him who had kept both of the parents in touch with the on goings of their son.

Martin pushed the door completely open and headed inside the home. The floor, as the two walked in, creaked with the weight that the two placed on it with each and every one of their steps. Martin felt Mai move a little closer to him as though she was trying to stay away from the walls of the house.

"So, you think that anyone lives here?" Mai asked with a voice that sounded as though she really did not care if she got an answer or not. As long as they could get out of their quickly she would be grateful.

"No, according to the papers we got from the town, no one has lived here for more than fifteen years. The town just never got to tearing it down for some reason." Martin said

"Well, let's hurry and set up the camera's then. I don't want to stay here too long. It feels 'cold'" Mai said shivering.

Martin nodded understanding that she was not talking temperature wise but more of the feeling the house gave off. Dust surrounded the rooms. It was obvious that no one, at least living, had been in the house. Martin found that a little strange though. Usually when there was a house that was considered to be haunted, local teenagers would dare each other to a night inside the house. If anything, there should be some area's that were disturbed. Dust should be missing from where the unwilling teenager climbed the stairs holding desperately to the guard rail, or the couch that sat in the corner with a tarp over it should at least look as though someone recently sat on it to keep themselves at least a little comfortable during the long night ahead of them.

In this house though, there was no evidence of it at all. In fact, there was no evidence that anything had gone on in this house for those fifteen years. Not even the smallest footprint from the homes resident mouse.

Martin began setting up the camera on the bottom floor. While Martin had been wondering about the lack of life inside the house Mai had made her way up to the upper floor making sure to watch her every step. There were countless holes lining the stair steps and the floor boards. When Mai made it to the second floor she had to move around a large gaping hole that spread from middle floor to the right side of the narrow hallway. Inching past the hole on the left side Mai peered inside the rooms that were located on either side of the hall. Each of the rooms was emptied except for the large amount of dust that littered the floor. At the end of the hallways Mai opened the last door not realizing the long cloudy breath that came from her mouth. The temperature had dropped so much that her breath was now able to be seen by the naked eye.

"What the…" Mai said opening the door not to see the normal dusty gray scene the other rooms had produced but a bright sunny room with an overly comfortable bed with white sheets and a canapé lying over it. Mai turned around to see not the dusty and falling apart hallway she had just walked through but a clean and well lit hallway. The wooden floor was recently polished and the walls recently painted white. Mai could smell the smell of wet paint floating through the house. Suddenly from behind Mai she heard a young woman's voice call out,

"Mother, father, it's so beautiful. Thank you so much." Mai watched as a girl who had not been in the room before suddenly passed through her from the room that held the bed in it. Mai felt pieces of her fly forward as though she was just a bunch of spirit particles. Her pieces flowed back together again giving Mai a strange liquid feeling. Mai began to follow where the girl was running. She stopped before she got to the end of the hallway though.

The young girl was standing before her talking to her parents who stood in front of her. The girl had to be in her twenties. A huge smile was planted on her face. Her silky black hair flowed smoothly down her back coming at an end in the middle. The thing Mai noticed the most though was the long silky kimono that the girl wore. In fact, the mother of the girl was wearing one as well. Mai tried to see what the father looked like but found that the man's face was covered in a large black blob. His clothes though were also of the same fashion.

'So, this is the past?' Mai questioned herself. She tried to take a step forward to see if she could see the man's face but something stopped her. It sounded like someone was calling her name. She tried to hear it again but she was interrupted in her thoughts by the voice of the young woman.

"Thank you so much mother and father. The house is so beautiful. I can't believe you are allowing me to live on my own." The girl said again with large smile still planted across her face.

"You are our pride and joy. If this is what will make you happy then we will back you one hundred percent." The mother's lovely voice said with a hint of happiness in it as well.

The girl turned towards the father. As though waiting to see what he would say. The father seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"This makes you happy?" he questioned with a sad undertone in his voice.

The voice sounded eerily familiar to Mai but she was not sure why.

"Yes father, this really makes me happy. I want to be able to live on my own. To be able to support myself." The girl's voice sounded resolute.

"Then if it makes you happy it makes me happy." The father said. Though Mai could tell there was something in his voice that stated otherwise.

The scene in front of her disappeared. That is to say, the people in front of her disappeared. What was left in front of her was the image of a young boy. A young boy Mai had come to recognize. At least in her dreams.

"You're Ayden right?" Mai questioned.

The boy's mouth opened in a wide smile, "Of course I am." He said with a long drawled out voice.

Something about the way the boy talked seemed off to Mai. It was almost as if his soul had literally been twisted.

"You need to pass on Ayden." Mai said with sadness in her eyes.

"YOU NEED TO PASS ON AYDEN!" Ayden's ghost said in a mocking yell. The boy turned as though he was going to leave.

"YOU ARE THE ONE WHO NEEDS TO LEAVE MAI!" then calming down the ghost turned his head to look back at Mai, "you should not see me, you should not hear me, and you should not know me. Darkness is always the best. You wouldn't know anything nor would you ever know me. Orion found out. Orion could see me, Orion could hear me, and Orion knew me. Look what happened to him. You should leave Mai. Before it's too late." The boy known as Ayden ran forward towards the window in front of him.

Mai screamed out his name realizing too late that since Ayden was a ghost no harm would come to him. It was too late for her to realize her mistake.

Like one feels when they are waking up from a bad dream, Mai felt the falling sensation that came with the in between states of awareness and non awareness. Though this falling sensation did not end. It kept going until something grabbed onto her arm jerking her whole body awake. Mai screamed.

~8~

Martin had finished setting up the camera down stairs and looked at his watch. It had been ten minutes sense they had entered the house. He looked around trying to see if Mai had come back down but to his deep displeasure she had not. Sighing he dusted the dust off of his pant leg and headed for the stairs. What he saw stopped him in his spot. In front of him lay a large hole. When Martin looked down he did not see the floor that should have been on the bottom floor but instead saw the floor in the basement. There were two large holes in the house. One on the top leading to the first floor and one on the bottom leading to the basement. Looking back up is what caused Martin even more surprise. Mai was standing in front of the hole as though she as a walking zombie.

"Mai?" Martin asked with a hesitant voice. He had seen this look before and it was not a look he had wanted to see again. Mai was not in the literal sense, awake. She was in the middle of a vision.

Martin inched his way around the hole on the left side. He did not want to risk either himself falling in or Mai. Martin almost had a heart attack when Mai stuck her foot out to step into the hole. He had not yet made it to her yet and would have had no way of saving her in time.

Quickly and without thinking he yelled as loud as he could, "MAI!"

Mai's eyes looked as though they had dilated a bit before returning to their murky cloud covered eyes. Martin let out a sigh though. Mai had not, as he had feared fallen into the hole. He still had a chance to make it over to her.

Martin finally made it across the broken floor boards when Mai let out a strangled cry. Martin was not sure at the time what it was that she had said but he had not really had the time to find out. Mai had finally taken the plunge. (Literally) Jumping forward in time and crying her name out as loud as he could he grabbed a hold of her wrist. He gritted his teeth when he heard the horrible sound of her shoulder popping out of its socket. Mai let out a loud scream.

Before Mai completely came to her senses she heard a voice very much like Ayden's say, _"You will know when you find the firefly"_ Mai began to kick her legs after the voice had completely disappeared. All she knew was that she needed to get out of the hole.

"MAI! I NEED YOU TO LISTEN TO ME. PLEASE STAY STILL." Martin asked still gritting his teeth. He looked at the girl that he was quickly coming to see as a future daughter in the eyes (ha-ha. Martins already figured that Naru and Mai will get married. That's kind of a little ways from now if it even happens. )

Mai quickly stopped her struggling. Tears fell down her face as she realized the severe pain that was flowing through her arm, into her shoulder muscles and through her back. It was a pain she had never felt before and hoped would soon end.

"Okay, now listen to me." Martin said again with a calm voice that soothed Mai's overflowing emotions, though it still did not get rid of the pain, "I'm going to pull you up. At any rate, it is going to hurt even more when I do so but it won't hurt as much as me letting you go will. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Martin asked again through clenched teeth at the end of his explanation.

Mai only nodded. She did not want to risk opening her mouth. She could feel heavy sobs coursing through her and she was not sure if she would be able to keep herself immobile if she let the cries come out of her mouth.

Martin began to pull. He was right. The pain grew ten times worse. No twenty times worse. Mai could not keep her mouth closed any longer. The pain was too great. Mai screamed.

Martin had finally been able to pull the girl up and into his lap. He collapsed onto his back breathing hard. He listened as Mai's cries came out heavily. He would need to get her back to the house.

"Okay… Okay…. We are alright now." Martin said mostly for himself as well as the young girl lying near him. He sat back up and looked over the girl. "Do you think you can stand?"

Mai nodded slowly standing up. She had finally been able to slow the tears coming from her eyes. She had to remind herself that she did not want to look unprofessional. Although, Mai was defiantly finding that to be a hard job with pain shooting up and down her right side mostly located in her shoulder.

Martin realized that Mai was trying to stop herself from crying so said nothing. He held onto Mai wrapping his arm around her body trying to help her keep her arm from moving too much. Martin reached into his pocket and pulled out the walki-talkie that his son had given him.

"Oliver, we are coming back to base. Make sure that Ms. Matsuzaki is there." Martin said referring to Ayako.

"What happened?" came the gruff voice over the sound waves.

Martin let his hand drop looking back over the silent crying girl. "I'll tell you when we arrive." He said hanging the phone up. The last thing he needed was his son becoming irate with him over his young assistants well being. Martin let a small smile cross his face. It would defiantly be interesting seeing the way that Oliver reacted to this, especially with his feelings for Mai.

A/N:

Okay. Here is the end of this chapter. Some parts of It I liked and some parts I did not. But hey, that's the way it always tends to be. This chapter ended up being around 11,000 words long. And 20 pages long. Again forgive me for the eye strain that might come from reading this.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will try and post chapter eight as soon as possible.

R&R


	8. Chapter 8 Mayors and broken arms

A/N:

Here's the next chapter. This is dedicated to all the people who reply to my story and can stand how long this story is taking. If you end up replying and sticking with this story till the end, then this chapter is also dedicated to you. :)

I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT!

**Chapter Eight**

"Lin, was the camera set up over where my father and Mai were?" Naru asked in as calm of a voice he could muster. To one who did not know the boy it would not be obvious as to what he was thinking. In fact one would most likely describe Naru's emotional scale as a 1, maybe even 0.01, which would also be considered as 'subject shows no emotion at all,' otherwise known as emotionless. To Lin though, it was obvious that the boy was upset. Or, if you still want to think of it in scale terms then it would be a high 8. 10 would be pushing it since that would also mean that the area surrounding them would be no longer suitable for any sort of life forms.

"There was a camera set up on the bottom floor. Though, it does not seem as though Mai was able to set up her camera on the second floor before the call from Martin came in." Lin watched Naru put a fist up to his mouth in thought. Naru was clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles were now a pale white.

Standing up Naru began to pace back and forth, a very tall tale sign that something was not right with whatever he was thinking. After a while, he stopped pacing then walked to the door where his jacket was hanging. He swiftly swung the jacket over his shoulders then began to walk out the door.

"Noll, where are you going?" Lin asked quickly standing up from his chair.

"Out," The young boy said before slamming the door shut to show that Lin was not to follow.

Lin let out a loud sigh before moving over to his jacket, Oliver may be his bosses son but that did not mean that he would listen to everything that Noll said. 'Yeah, Noll is defiantly angry' Lin thought and sadly, he was not sure if Noll would be able to keep his temper down, even if it was his father who was the cause of his anger.

Lin picked up the walkie-talkie and switched the switch in order to talk to the rest of the SPR team. "Please come back to base as soon as you can." Lin then switched the communication device back off while heading out of the door to follow wherever his ward was off too.

Naru tried to calm himself down. If anything he knew it would not do him any good to get overly angry about any of this. Naru let out a deep breath before looking up from the ground where a few moments ago he was staring daggers at. The smell of smoke was floating heavily in the air. The few buildings that were still standing around him had a dark brown smoked tent to it. The fire had obviously caused smoke damage to those buildings. A slight movement to Naru's left caught his eye. Stopping and turning his head to see what it was that had caused the movement; he was only met with a brisk wind blowing across his face. Naru looked for a few seconds longer before turning his attention back to the path in front of him. This annoyingly, caused him to be stopped again by the mayor of Hosei Point standing in front of his path.

"Ah, if it's not Oliver Davis himself, just the man I was looking for." Tsubasa said clasping his hands in front of him as though he was overly enthused about seeing Naru.

Naru found himself wondering how the man had snuck up on him so silently. Naru was not one to miss the details of his surroundings.

"Mr. Tsubasa, as I am quite aware that you already know, if you don't have anything relevant to the case to tell me, I don't have the time to listen to you." Naru said side stepping the man in overly obnoxious clothing. The mayor had taken to wearing a bright yellow jacket that reeked of being overly priced. Naru again berated himself for not seeing the man walk up to him. He would have thought the bright color would have alerted him. Naru did not see the large evil grin that came across the mayor's face as Naru continued to storm off in the direction that he knew his father and prone to danger assistant had gone.

"Say hi to your young assistant for me than. I sure do hope she is alright." Mayor Tsubasa said with a dark tone to his voice.

Naru paused in his stride. There was something different in the way the mayor was speaking but that was not what made him stop. Naru had to use every particle in his body to stop himself from blowing the man up right at that instant. He would have, too, if it was not for the fact that the man was a client. Naru turned to wish the man a good day but Mayor Tsubasa interrupted him.

"Before you go, I want you to know something. Young people are the same as they have been in the past… young boy's in particular… they have no self control. If you allow them they will go and take anything and everything that you hold dear. You may act like a respectable boy but your just the same as your good for nothing brother." Tsubasa Hotaru paused for a moment whispering something under his breath. All Naru could make out was 'daughter…..killing….exactly like…' As though he had not even paused in his conversation Tsubasa Hotaru continued "If it was not for the fact that he was already gone, I would have seen to it that he was taken care of."

Naru could feel his temper rise even higher. In fact, some of the leaves around him began to lift off of the ground and it had nothing to do with the wind. 'Why did he have to bring Gene into this?' Another gust of wind blew past the two. Before Naru could do anything drastic, both his father and his assistant, also known as, 'danger magnet' appeared next to him. The sound of his name had pulled him from his rising anger and the leaves, along with the small bits of rocks that had begun to rise as well fell to the ground. The leaves blowing off in the wind continuing the journey that they would have taken a few moments ago. In the small second that Naru turned his head to look at his father and Mai, Mayor Tsubasa had disappeared.

'Had I just imagined him?' Naru could not imagine that his brain would come up with a conversation like that. Although, he did have to say that something was defiantly off about the conversation that they had just had. Sure, the mayor was a pain to deal with but Mayor Tsubasa had never openly threatened anyone. It seemed as though there was a change occurring with the way the mayor was behaving. Naru wondered if that had anything to do with what was going on. He felt that he would at least have some sort of answer to his question soon though. Mai had probably had a vision and if he had his way, he would make sure he knew what it was that she saw as soon as he possibly could. This train of thought ended quickly though when he saw the condition Mai was in.

The sight of his father holding 'his Mai'…. He paused in his thinking then continued, 'His obviously injured assistant' being 'injured', was difficult to see. It also looked as though Mai's arm was hanging from her body like it was a separate entity. Naru felt as though he should have been there to protect Mai. Though, knowing her, she would have still gotten into the same amount of trouble. At the moment, Naru really hated himself. He knew that Mai would find her way into trouble and yet he still allowed her to go off.

Naru heard Lin walk up behind him. Glaring at him for disobeying his orders, Naru asked his older assistant the question that was still weighing on his mind, "On the way over here, did you by chance see Mayor Tsubasa pass by?"

Lin shook his head. Though he did have to wonder what Mayor Tsubasa had to do with the subject on hand. He was shocked to see that the only reprimand that he had received was Noll's patented glare.

Naru walked over to his father and Mai, he would have to deal with Tsubasa later.

Martin watched his son. It was obvious that he was overly upset about what had happened. He was sure that he was going to be on the receiving end of whatever Naru had planned as retribution. The emotions that were ebbing off of his son though were defiantly very interesting for him to see. Even though they were very well hidden, he was still able to see the miniscule movements of the corner of his mouth or the tiniest twitch at the corner of his son's eye. It was altogether, very interesting. The last time his son had shown him any sort of emotion was before Gene had died. In fact, this would be the first time in a very long time that he had been on the receiving end of his son's temper.

"What** -** happened?" Naru asked making sure to space his words very carefully and with an added glare to further the effect that he was aiming at his father. This would normally make any man cower in fear of their own lives. Martin was not an ordinary man though and made sure to stand his ground in front of his son.

Mai too, was able to see the emotions though she was clueless as to why she was seeing emotions such as pain, anger, rage, sadness, and many more emotions that she had never seen on his face. She hated to see him so angry but she was also interested in seeing what other types of emotions he could show on his face.

Martin, was obviously curious in what his son would do now. It was obvious, although Naru hated to admit it, that Martin had found out about his feelings for Mai.

"I'll let you know once we enter the base for now," Martin began while staring at the overly pale young girl who stood next to him, "I believe that it would be best to get her inside where she can sit down."

Lin watched his young ward to see if he was planning to do anything reckless. Although Noll's face looked completely calm, he had not unclenched his hands from when he had received the message from his father. It did not seem as though he was planning to unclench them anytime soon either. But altogether, he was doing a pretty good job of holding his power in. Lin new that a moment before he had arrived that Noll had used some of his power. Lin's Shiki had told him that much though what he could not understand was why his Shiki were acting so strange. It was like they had seen a ghost. Which put in Shiki terms is kind of dumb since they themselves are ghostly beings.

Naru nodded at his father's comment, but before Martin could move forward again, Naru moved his way in between his father and Mai so that he could bring the young girl in himself.

"Don't take this as an insult, but I'd rather be the one to bring my assistant inside. It seems that I'll be the only one capable of keeping her safe. Mai seems to be overly prone to danger and I don't want to have to pay for any future medical bills that she might bring to SPR due to your carelessness." He finished placing his arm around Mai in order to help her walk back to the base without moving her arm to much.

At first, when Mai had heard his comment, she thought that maybe Naru really did care for her… that was until she heard the rest of it in which she had found it to be really rude, especially since he was talking to his father. Mai glared at her boss, she felt the need to argue with him but she also knew that if she even tried to hurt him it would only hurt her more due to her arm hanging limply to the side of her. Mai wondered if she swung her body hard enough, if her arm would at least do some damage to the overly narcissistic pig but she really doubted it. Plus, with the way that Naru had positioned himself next to her she doubted that she would even be able to reach her arm around to hit him.

Mai could still feel sharp pains going from her shoulder into the rest of her body. What made it worse was that she was starting to feel very hot, not to mention that she was also finding it exceedingly difficult to breath. She put it off to the fact that her face had begun to blush profusely at the contact that Naru was now using on her, which mostly dealt with his arm being around her.

Mai tried closing her eyes to dull the pain. It usually worked if she tried to focus her mind on something completely different than the current predicament. She found it increasingly hard though since the only two things she was able to focus on was the wind that had begun to pick up around her and the fact that her boss was really close. This thought only caused her to blush even more and to feel another wave of heat flow through her body.

'It's too hot' she thought again. Mai could feel herself place more weight on Naru's side, not noticing the worried glance that the young man had sent her way because of it.

As the three walked towards the hotel, the rest of the team finally found their way back.

"Hey, Lin, why did you call us all back?" Monk asked before stopping in his tracks. Monk, Ayako, Luella, and Masako had finally come close enough to see the state that Mai was in. once the scene had finally processed through their brain; they quickly made their way over to the slowly moving group. Ayako was the first to arrive. She would have taken Mai away from Naru if it was not for the glare that he was sending her. She took a step back before looking at Mai,

"You've obviously pulled your arm from your socket. We will have to place it back in. It will hurt but at least there should be no breaks." Mai nodded with a semi smile on her face. She was now finding it hard to breath.

"Jou-chan, you don't look so good." Monk said with a worried glance at her. The group of people had finally made it back to the hotel.

'Obviously I'm not good. My shoulder is out of place, it's too hot, and I can't breathe.' Mai thought to herself but she was not able to say that out loud due to the fact that the heat seemed to bring darkness with it. Mai felt a hand being placed on her forehead as darkness began to ebb its way around her. She was barely able to hear the voice that said, "She's burning up!" She would have blushed even more if she had realized that the voice had come from her narcissistic boss. She would have also passed the blush color limit if she had realized that the one who then proceeded to pick her up was also said boss. Mai felt herself begin to fall into the complete and utter darkness that she was used to. The last thing she heard was the sound of someone's voice saying, "Don't fall asleep!"

'But I am not able to stay awake' Mai thought as she finally was gone from the light.

~8~

"MAI!" Naru felt his mouth move without really thinking about saying anything. He was at least able to carry Mai without any difficulty. She did not seem to weigh a thing. Naru, ignoring the worried comments that were coming from his employees, carried Mai to the base past the strange woman who owned the hotel. He placed Mai down on the couch in the middle of the room while Ayako rushed over to her and put her hand on Mai's forehead.

"She really does have a high fever." Ayako said turning around to look for someone. Finding her target she said, "Luella, Monk; go and bring me a wet wash cloths. Also bring me the first aid kit; it might have something in it to help with her arm."

Both of the people who were called on nodded and quickly left.

"It's hot…" Mai mumbled under her ragged breath.

Naru moved his hand over to her own hand and held on, "Mai, can you hear me?" he asked in a quiet voice. Mai's eyes only scrunched up in anguish as one small tear ran down her face.

Before anyone could see that he had even placed his hand on Mai's hand he quickly removed it as Ayako turned to look over to him. (That's just what he thinks. Both Martin and Lin saw what he had done but were smart enough not to mention anything.)

"Lin, Martin, Naru," Ayako began yelling orders. It was clear that she had taken charge of the situation, "I will need your help to put her arm back in. I hate to say it, but I am glad that she has passed out. It will make this so much easier not to mention she won't have to deal with a lot of the pain. At least the pain that comes with putting an arm back into place."

'No pain?' Naru scoffed, it was obvious that she was still in pain from whatever it was that she had experienced in her dream.

The men, with Ayako's directions, got into place. They were mostly there to make sure that when Ayako pushed, Mai would not move in the wrong direction.

Marti felt horrible. He could understand that his son really loved this girl and yet he did not keep her safe.

Masako stood in the corner. She had not been asked to do anything. Although, she had a feeling that she would just be in the way if she had been asked. When she had first seen the way Mai was she had felt jealousy. Mai had again, taken Naru's attention. She was about to comment on that fact when she noticed the strange presence that had been lingering nearby. 'Why did I not notice it before? I wonder if Mai noticed it. That could be why she is reacting in such a way.' The presence was horrible. While in the car with Naru, Masako had mentioned that there was more than one spirit in the town. She had wondered if it was the normal spirits that came from an aging town. There had to be a grave yard nearby at least.

But the presence she felt now was not one she had noticed before. It was as though it had just shown up or was concealing itself from her. Masako did not know which one she would have preferred. If it had just shown up, that would mean that they knew a little more about the situation at hand but if it had been concealing itself then it could be any amount of things. She hoped it was not anything to difficult to deal with.

Masako grimaced at the strange sound that came from replacing Mai's arm. She had thought that it would be a quite procedure but there was defiantly a soft sound of a pop. She could not completely describe the sound though. She had to turn her head away when she saw the look of pain that crossed Mai's face for a moment. 'Who am I kidding?' she thought to herself. She was glad that she was not the one feeling Mai's pain. Even if it did mean getting Naru's attention, no one in their right mind would want to be going through what Mai was.

~8~

An hour had passed since the group had arrived back at the base. It was now very close to sun down with the sun slowly hiding itself behind the surrounding forest. Mai had not yet woken up and Naru kept finding himself looking over at the young sleeping girl. Her fever had gone down only a little bit. Naru could see the sweat still beading on her face. He sighed looking back at his book.

'Where is Yasuhara when I need him?' Naru thought referring to the fact that he had not yet called back with any past history. Just as he was about to throw his book out the open window, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Naru spoke into the phone making sure to lace as much anger into it as possible.

"Hi, I would like to order three thousand cups of ramen to be delivered to my house" the annoying voice of Yasuhara from the receiver.

"Yasuhara, I don't have…." Naru began in which he was quickly interrupted by Yasuhara again.

"Of course I want that much. Do you think I am the type of guy to joke around? I've got quite a few hungry elephants over here and they don't sound happy about not having anything to eat." Yasuhara continued as though he heard none of the warning signs that Naru's voice had been doused into a boiling pot of red chili. (He is really, really, really angry.) In the back ground Naru could here what sounded like the police force yelling at Yasuhara for calling them elephants. (they were under the impression that Yasuhara was calling for food. Not Naru)

"YASUHARA!" Naru yelled into the phone.

"…." A long pause echoed over the phone, "Um… sorry boss… did something by chance happen?" Yasuhara said. Yasuhara's voice felt really dry all of a sudden. Usually he did not have a hard time getting his jokes out. Although it was also unusual for Naru to be yelling like that. (It is at this point that the police force realize that Yasuhara is not ordering food. Quite a lot of books being thrown at the college student ensues forcing Yasuhara to escape to the chief's office)

Naru tapped the pen that he had picked up on the desk table. Lin was now staring at him wondering if he would have to do anything to stop him from blowing the hotel up with all of them in it.

Naru sighed while turning the phone on to the speaker. The other members of SPR including his mother and father had walked into the room at the sound of his voice ringing out through the building.

"Yasuhara, you are on speaker phone, I hope you have something of the utmost importance for us." Naru said rubbing his temples with his hands. He could feel a headache coming up.

"Hey guys, wish I could be over there. It sounds like some deep stuff is going on." Clearing his throat as though he could see the glare that Naru was giving him, Yasuhara began his research presentation. It kind of reminded him of when he was in grade school.

"Anyways, it turns out that the town you're staying in has quite a back ground. It took me ages just to find it though. You would not believe…."

"YASUHARA!" the group not including Naru, Lin, Luella, or Martin said loudly.

"Wow, something really interesting must have happened. I'm guessing that since I did not hear Mai's lovely voice it has to do with her. As I was saying…" Yasuhara quickly changed his topic when he heard the loud groans of his colleges. This is what I found out."

A/N:

CLIFF HANGER! Continued in next chapter. :D

I just realized that I lost Naru in this story, or at least the way that I see Naru's character as being. :(

Hopefully if I write another story after this one is completed (wonder when that will be) I can bring the characters back. :)


	9. Chapter9 Yasu's phone call story of past

_**The added part to the story is in bold and italics. **_

A/N: I am so happy that I made it to chapter Nine. I almost lost eight. My computer died then rose from the dead. Luckily all the files came with it. :D

I really want to thank everyone. I keep saying that and yet I can't stop thanking all of you. You are the ones who keep this story going. If I had no one reading it then I would not write it. Still, I want to apologize for not posting quickly. I've been really busy. I wonder where this story is going to take me.

I do not own Ghost Hunt!

Short chapter ahead. Read at your own risk.

Chapter Nine:

The SPR team sat in a well lighted room with curtains drawn. The moon had finally shown its face to the outside world while the sun decided that it no longer felt the need to gaze upon the many destroyed homes. Naru sat on a single recliner while Lin sat next to him on a brown folding chair, laptop included on his lap. Ayako and Takigawa had taken to sitting next to each other whether they realized their close proximity or not. Masako who had at first attempted to gain a seat next to Naru found herself sitting next to an unconscious Mai. Luella and Martin were sitting on a double seated couch, Martins arm wrapped protectively around Luella. In the midst of all this was a single speaker phone that was at the moment, producing Yasuhara's loud and sometimes, well, most of the time, obnoxious voice.

"It turns out that Hosei Point has been around for fifty six years. Back when it first started out, a farmer who came from Okinawa had purchased the land in order to build his family home. His wife, Yue, who at the time was pregnant with their first child had moved along with him. Sadly the baby never made it past its first day. It is said that the wife, Yue had gone into a deep depression that lasted for five years until she became pregnant again with a little girl whom they decided to name Kaji. The girl made it and grew up to gain possession of the land.

Due to narrow mindedness, it was considered bad for a woman to own so much land so Kaji had only two choices in which she could choose from. One, she could get married and give full ownership of the land to the man she married, or she could give up the land entirely. Before Kaji could marry though, tragedy again struck. Kaji had been found dead lying in the fields that her father had planted. Rumors spread that she killed herself due to the arranged marriage that she was being forced into. Others said that a greedy land owner, in search of more land had killed her. No matter which one it was, the land was put into possession of a wealthy patron from Tokyo. The land that had been planted and made into a family home had now been made into what Hosei Point is today. Hosei Point came from the name of the new owner of the land. Mr. Hosei had a wife and a daughter. It turns out that the daughter was really well known around town."

Yasuhara took a breath. He could not remember the last time that he had a past history that was this long.

Naru took his chance to state something during the pause. "Let me guess, something happened to Mr. Hosei's daughter"

As the rest of the SPR members stared with wide eyed wonderment at what Naru had just stated, Yasuhara let out a small but sad chuckle.

"Your intuitiveness never ceases to amaze me." Yasuhara cleared his throat and continued. "This is where the first fire began. After his daughter had been attacked by some of the local boys… I'll let you fill in with what happened during the attack, the daughter's house caught on fire killing not only the daughter but also the father and the mother who were visiting at the time as well. Again, the cause of the fire was never found out. _**The house itself had not completely burned. In fact, afterwards, repairs were done in order to resell the place but it never sold. The house is apparently still standing though it has recently been condemned. Supposedly teenagers kept going into the place as a dare. A few of them came out horribly injured."**_

_**Martin had a strange feeling that the house that he and Mai were at was the same house Yasuhara was talking about. **_

Yasuhara continued, "after what happened, every ten years there was a house fire somewhere in the town. It did not become the type of fire it is today until ten years ago. When a major fire occurred in half of the village."

A long pause ensued the explanation, not because Yasuhara had finished but because a loud ruckus had begun on his side of the phone, "AH CRAP!" the rest of SPR could hear the college student mutter under his breath when even more noise came out from the phone. It sounded as though books and desks were flying around. After a few more moments, the sound stopped causing each of the SPR members to look at each other wondering if Yasuhara was alright.

"Okay, sorry bout' that, had a bit of a mix up here. Turns out that the candy thief had a pal try and rescue him from his cell. Its all under control now. Though the ramen noodles don't seem to think the same."

The entire SPR team sweat dropped. 'could the town that Yasuhara was in really have such lame cases?'

"Yasuhara, If you are done with your side story can you please continue on with the History?" Naru stated in an exasperated sort of voice

"As you say Sir" Yasuhara said with a flourish of his voice. "Before the major fire occurred, a young boy by the name of Aaden had moved to the town with his family. I believe that you and your brother met this young boy when you went on the case with your dad… am I correct."

"Yes, you are correct." Naru stated with a low undertone to his voice spelling trouble for anyone who tried to push holes into his past.

"What I would like to know is how you are getting such detailed information Yasu… I hope you don't mind me calling you Yasu." Martin stated.

"Ah, Mr. Davis… I was beginning to wonder if you had ever arrived. I don't mind if you call me Yasu … you can call me hunny buns if you would like to as well…. And I have my ways of getting information. If I told everyone then I would not be needed anymore on the cases. And we know that your lovely son would die if he never saw me again." Yasuhara said with an obvious smile on his face.

"I believe we would all be better off without your sidetracked reports Yasuhara." Naru again diverted the conversation back to topic.

"Yeah, yeah…." Yasuhara said taking in a deep breath. "Anyways, as you know, Aaden got under the skin of Mayor Tsubasa who had begun his campaign against degenerates only a few years before. It turns out that Aaden had latent psychic abilities. Very small compared to what everyone on the SPR team had yet it was still able to tell him some things. What those things are though we may never know. It turns out that Aaden was sent to a boarding school when he tried to spill those details. I am sure you all heard, that he later died at said boarding school. You would not believe how many of these deaths never went explained."

Naru knew the feeling of having a death go unexplained. Especially with the death of Gene. Sure, Naru was able to see what happened but it never told him why he was hit in the first place or why Gene was on that dark road in the middle of no where in order to be hit in the first place. (I have not been able to read the Manga, so if this is all wrong then I'm sorry. I'll just say that this is an out of context story if I'm wrong.)

Yasuhara continued where he left off , "a few years after Aaden's death is when the major fires occurred."

"So who's creating the fires then. It seems as though , if I heard you right that is, the fires began before Ayden's death and only got worse after his death. Why is that, is there something bigger than what we all thought the cause of this? And what do all the deaths before the fire have to do with what's going on now?" Ayako asked.

"I do believe you might have part of that theory right . The presence that is here is powerful but its not gaining its power from itself, I'm not sure how to completely explain it…" Masako said with her fist still held up to her mouth.

"What do you mean?" Takigawa asked standing up from his seat and moving to the back of said seat placing his hands on the shoulder rest. Ayako looked up at him as though she was annoyed at him for something but she quickly moved her gaze from him to look at the still sleeping Mai.

"I believe I just said that I did not know how to explain it further." Masako spat out making Takigawa move a little away from the girl.

"Well if I am understanding you right," Martin began, "as Yasuhara has pointed out, there has been more than one death here. So you can expect to find many of those spirits trapped here." Martin said being quickly interrupted by Takigawa again

"But wouldn't the spirits just move on?" he asked. "What makes you so sure that they would stay?"

"Well, for one…" Masako began with an annoyed undertone voice, "I have seen quite a bit of spirits hanging around here. Also, this land does not seem to want to allow any of the spirits move on."

"See, it is a earthbound spirit… I can have this cleared up quickly… just tell me when and where and I'll…" Ayako began with a knowing look on her face

"If you would allow me to finish you would realize that that is not all I was going to say." Masako said with her eyes focused coldly at the red headed priestess (is it red hair or brown… I don't know… you get the general idea.)

Ayako folded her arms with a humph muttered through her mouth.

"It's not only the land… there is another presence here. A very strong one. A Malevolent one." Masako said with a shudder, "I felt it a few moments ago before we arrived at the hotel. I would have told you but…" Masako looked at the unconscious girl who lay next to her.

"Yasuhara, what can you tell us about Mr. Tsubasa?" Naru asked as though he knew something that the others did not.

"Why are you wondering about him?" Luella asked with an emphasis on the word, 'him'

Naru did not answer. He was waiting for Yasuhara's reply.

"Ah, well, you see, that's where I ran into a problem. There is no information on Tsubasa Hotaru. In fact, I could not even find his birth records. He seems to have just appeared from no where with a vengeance against teens of the boy variety." Yasuhara said with what sounded like a scratch of the head.

"There was no information at all?" Luella asked as though she was shocked. The looks on the rest of SPR seemed to echo the same sentiments. That is… except for Naru and Martin.

"Well, except for the bits about his campaign against teens and all. There is no other information. I'm really surprised to see that he was able to make it so far in his position without background history." Yasuhara said.

"I figured as much." Naru muttered under his breath. Martin looked at him as though in understanding.

"What are you talking about Naru, you can't say that you already knew that there was no information on Tsubasa Hotaru. If you did then you would not have asked Yasuhara." Monk said as though he was trying to figure out the puzzle that is Naru.

"I did not know what Yasuhara would find, though after today, my suspicions on the man have been confirmed. All I need to do now is figure out what he is planning." Naru stated as though it was well known information as to what he was talking about.

Before anyone could ask for his further explanation, Naru cut them off,

"Mrs. Hara, I'd like some tea. Monk and Ayako, I'd like you to go with her."

Everyone stood speechless. Even the sound on the other end of the phone was more of a static then any other sort of noise. Never in their whole entire lives had they heard Naru ask Masako for tea, let alone the fact that he was asking her anything having to do with his tea.

As though he could see their hesitation Naru glared at his team members, "Last time I checked I did not hire you to sit around and do nothing. Since Mai is not able to make tea at the moment, I am willing to go for someone else's tea. If Ms. Hara does not want to make the tea I'll let you decide who makes it. Either way…"

Masako interrupted Naru.

"No, its okay, I'd love to make your tea for you. Its good for you to try someone else's tea. Maybe you will find that you love my tea more then Mai's" Masako said with a huge smile on her face. The smile quickly disappeared when Naru muttered,

"I highly doubt that."

The whole room burst out into laughter. Amazingly even Lin managed a small chuckle.

Masako who had had enough of the laughter turned and humped out the door. Ayako and Monk quickly followed her still laughing their heads off.

Yasuhara cleared his throat as though he was wondering if anyone still realized that he was there.

"Well, is there anything else you wanted to know?" Yasuhara asked.

"Did you find out anything about Orion?" Naru asked.

The only ones left in the room now was Naru, Lin, Martin, Luella, and a sleeping Mai.

"There was not much said about him besides the fact that Mayor Tsubasa claimed that he was a very misguided child. Along with the fact that there was evidence of mental disabilities. Something about hearing voices." Yasuhara again cleared his throat, "His mother actually still lives there in Hosei Point with Orion's Younger sister. You could probably meet her and ask her some questions. Though I do believe that there is a connection between Orion and Ayden. They both seemed to have some sort of connection to the spirit realm."

Naru nodded his head as though thinking about something. The real reason for why he had asked Ms. Hara to go and make the tea was mostly so that he could be alone with Mai. Though he had not thought of a way to get rid of his parents or Lin yet. He pretty much figured that his parents already knew about his thoughts on Mai. In fact he was pretty certain about it though that did not mean that he wanted to show affection towards her while his parents were there. He was not going to break the wall that he had placed up yet. Though he did know that there was no way he would drink Ms. Hara's tea.

Before Naru could say anything further the sound of Mai's scream shock everyone from their reverie.

"FIRE!" Mai's voice echoed down along the corridors of the hotel.

Outside a loud siren sounded along with the eerie voice that clearly spoke.

"why do you lie…

.While all the children cry

.You will know when you find the fire fly"

A/N:

Okay, I know, horrible rhyme but to tell you the truth, if you want to do some detective work you should be able to figure out at least some of what it means. Though I do have to say, there is a lot more to it then just that little small part that I wrote.

ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER.


	10. Chapter10 pt1 Mai's Vision of The Past

A/N: **You guys are so going to hate me for this chapter but it has to be done. Yes… this is the dreaded back story chapter. This is what was occurring to Mai while she was asleep/unconscious. **_**This chapter could/can be quite confusing if you have not read the previous chapters, though then again it still might be confusing. : ( So, here comes the preview**_

_PAST HISTORY:_

_1: First family to purchase land. Man, woman *pregnant at time but baby died*, child born after first child's death._

_2: Mr. and Mrs. Hosei, Mr. Hosei is first mayor (town named after mayor) and their daughter who in this chapter you will learn a lot more about. *look back at previous chapters and you will see that they have been mentioned before, I have just never said their names. Will go back over just in case._

_3:Mayor Tsubasa (what's with this guy?)_

_4:Ayden (met Gene when he and his brother Oliver were near the town of Hosei Point. Died of 'mysterious' cause)_

_5:Orion ( died in the fire from ten years ago. Had connections with Ayden's ghost and possible connections to Mayor Tsubasa. Will learn more about him in this chapter.)_

_6: NOW- Mai, Naru, SPR team - "What in the world is going on in HOSEI POINT!" _

_Okay, maybe not that many stuff to remember but still just make sure to pay attention to the story lines…_

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT!**

_ENJOY!_

_This chapter is dedicated to all the readers of this fan fiction._

**Chapter Ten (THIS CHAPTER WILL BE SPLIT INTO PARTS)**

_~(FIRST FAMILY)~_

"Wait, where am I?" Mai's voice echoed through a dark void. Only after her voice ended its repeated echo did she realize where it was that she was. 'ah, the spirit world. But wait, if I'm in the spirit world then where is Gene?'

As if to answer her question, Gene stepped out of the darkness and into view. The look on his face seemed worried almost as if he was waiting for something bad to happen.

"Gene, is everything alright? Why am I here?" Mai asked. She could not remember meeting him so much in a case before. "This must be a really big case if you keep bringing me back here."

"Remember Mai, I am not the one bringing you here. You come here when there is information to be given and this is such a time." Gene said letting a smile form on his worried face. His eyes, just like his brothers still showed the underlying emotion that he held.

"You know, if you did not just smile right then I'd have a really hard time figuring out if you were Naru or Gene." Mai said crossing her arms. She would let Gene keep his secret. She knew that in time she would come to find out why he was worried.

Gene, finally coming back to his senses acted as though he had been shot, covering his chest with his hand he said as though shocked, "Mai, I'm hurt, how could you say that I am a joke hating fiend like Noll is?" Gene ended with one of his characteristic laughs to show that he was just kidding around with her. Gaining a serious look on his face Gene sighed while holding his hand out for her to grab a hold of. "We need to get started. You don't want to be stuck here too long. I don't believe Noll would want you stuck here either."

"That's only cause' he would die without my tea." Mai smiled.

"and other things…" Gene said leaving Mai to fill in the dots.

Mai watched as the blackness that surrounded her quickly changed into a moonlighted area. Mai could now see that she was standing in front of a house located in Hosei Point. Mai looked at Gene as though wondering why she was there.

Gene sighed then with sad eyes replied, I have a lot to show you Mai and so little time. Please, just bare with me I'll help you through this. (this is to all you readers as well. This is going to be a long chapter ten)

Mai was nervous now. What could be so bad about the scenes that she was about to see. Mai did not know if she wanted to find out.

Mai closed her eyes only to open them again and find herself in an open field. Looking around herself she could see a large field planted with rice patty's. The sun was setting and a cold breeze brushed by her causing her hair to sway in the wind. A little girl and her father were walking along holding hands. The little girl taking twice as many steps as the father in order to keep up with him. Though the little girl seemed more interested in jumping around trying not to step on the hidden things that only she herself could see. (kind of like don't step on the crack type of game)

The young girl had shoulder length brown hair. The wind that was blowing quietly gently pushing the hair side to side. The girls eyes were mysterious. As though they held many secrets that only she herself would know. The eyes were a mossy green with hints of brown in them. Mai would thoroughly scold anyone who tried to say that the girls eyes were ugly for they were defiantly not of the sort to be called ugly. They were beautiful.

"Soon this will be all yours Kaji." The man smiled down at his daughter.

The girl paused in her self created game in order to look at her father, "It will?" she asked looking at all the rice patty's as though they were strange. Then as though thinking deeply about something she looked back up at her father, "Though it would not have been mine if you had my brother right?"

The man stopped in his tracks.

"Who told you about your brother?"

The girl seeming to realize that she had just said something that she was not supposed to quickly returned to playing her jumping game. Pausing again in her game she asked,

"Um… hey dad, why did you plant so much rice?" The girl frowned at the look her dad was still giving her.

"I asked you a question." The man said getting down to his knees so that he would be at eye level. Or at least as much eye level you can get with an eight year old.

"I don't know…. It was just a dream… I guess." (When it says dream, it means the type that Mai has. This will be explained later in the chapter)

The man realizing that his daughter would not explain further let out a sigh while standing up. He would have to tell his wife about this. Maybe she would know something about it. The Father and daughter continued on their journey back to their home. The girl jumping around and finally laughing when a bit of mud plopped up from the ground and landed on her dads shoes. The man laughed as well bending over to pick up a piece of mud and plant it on the girls cheek.

Mai laughed to herself while watching the pair. She then noticed that time seemed to fast forward as she now found herself inside a dark room. A click of the door to her right made her turn to see who was entering the room.

"Kai, is that you?" came a woman's voice from behind Mai. It was only then that Mai realized that the room she was in was a bed room.

"Yes." came the voice of the father from earlier. Sitting down on the bed with his back turned from his wife, the man let out a deep sigh.

"I just received a call from my sister, she's doing well, her son is also growing fast, I heard that he is already walking…." as though she realized that her husband had something troubling on his mind she paused then asked, "What's bothering you?.

"Yue, did you tell Kaji about our son?" Kai did not turn to look at his wife. He was waiting for her answer.

There was a long silence.

Mai noticed that the Kaji looked almost exactly like the mother figure.

Kai turned around to make sure that Yue was still sitting there and that he had not been imagining things.

"No," came her pain ridden reply, "I have not spoken about him to her. Why?" The woman sounded like she did not like having this conversation.

"Kaji asked about him. She said that she had a dream about him. How is that possible unless…" Kai paused. He did not want to say it. He had hoped that his child would not…

Kai's thoughts were interrupted by Yue's reply

"It is possible, the gift, though I'd like to call it a curse, does run through my families blood. We both knew this could happen" Yue said with a sad look in her eyes.

"But… could she really be having 'visions'?" the word visions was hissed under his breath.

"I don't know sweetie but it is possible. that's all I'm saying." Yue answered.

"How have your visions been? They have not been bothering you have they?" Kai asked changing the subject to his wife.

"I don't tend to have them anymore, who knows maybe Kaji will grow out of it…. Anyways, about my sister, Asami says that we should come and visit her. Ayaki, her son is growing so fast."

Darkness again surrounded Mai. Looking around, She found Gene standing next to her. "I don't know about you but I'm a bit confused about what is going on."

Gene smiled. "by the end you should be able to figure some of it out. If not you can always ask Naru. (instead, if you the reader can't understand this then ask me.) I'm sure that he would love showing how much smarter he is than you."

"HEY! I AM NOT DUMB!" Mai shouted making sure to throw a punch at Gene.

Gene side stepped the punch, "I'm not saying you are… that's just what Naru would say."

Mai still frowned at her bosses twin . "Maybe I'll forgive you then… just maybe."

Gene smiled then pointed back in front of them. Again Mai was in the fields. This time it was for a funeral.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…" Mai could hear the priest from where she was standing on top of a hill looking down at the gathering.

Mai gasped at the sight of two caskets. It reminded her of her parents funeral. She had had to see her parents caskets way to early in life and now she had to see two of them laying side by side as though a sick reminder of her own life.

In front of the caskets stood a young women who looked eerily a lot like Yue. The only difference is that this woman was a lot younger.

"Did you hear that? They left the land entirely to Kaji. Such a shame they did not have a son. If they did then there would not be the mess that they have now." Mai could hear the whispering of some old ladies who had gathered for the funeral as well. "I can't believe that this happened. For both of them to come down sick at the same time… well, I guess it is kind of romantic if you think of it. Going together. A shame that their daughters left alone though."

Another old ladies voice picked up.

"Do you think that she will marry in order to keep the land? I heard that some big wig is looking to by out the land."

"I don't know. The only thing I do know is that if she is going to marry, she will have to marry the son of some large business company. I heard its black mail…"

The old women were suddenly hushed by the appearance of a tall man. The man glared daggers at the old women then turned to who Mai could only imagine as being Kaji. He roughly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from her parents caskets. Mai could see a tear fall from the woman's face as she was pulled away.

Mai screamed for someone to stop the man from taking Kaji but the old woman and all the other bystanders did nothing… Mai was about to run forward when Gene stopped her pointing at something.

Before Mai knew it the tall man was suddenly punched by another man who quickly placed Kaji behind him.

"You are not welcome here, leave." the new comer said still standing in front of Kaji.

"TAKEO! PLEASE, DON'T DO THIS!" Kaji yelled grabbing the back of the man protecting her.

Takeo, or so the man had just been identified as, was also very tall with black hair. His hair had a hint of a curl to it. The man's eyes were a soft brown. Although Mai found his eyes pleasing to look at she tended to lean more towards blue eyes. Eyes that were deep like the ocean. She felt her cheeks turning red as the image of her handsome boss appeared before her. Mai had to shake the image out of her head so that she could pay attention to what was happening in front of her. Naru already had enough of a big ego, she did not have to give him the satisfaction of knowing that his looks were causing her trouble.

The 'evil' tall man, as Mai had come to call him, who had fallen to the ground slowly stood up wiping the blood from his lips.

"You will regret this." The 'evil' man said walking away from the two figures while the funeral procession watched from afar.

"Why, Why did you do that? You know who he is don't you? Jun is the son of a big company. You've heard the trouble that they bring. He can easily hurt you if you do anything to him." Kaji pleaded to Takeo.

Takeo let a small smile fall on his face though it seemed to be a sad one. "You don't love him though." he replied

"I know that and so do you. You know who I love. I love you. But I have to keep this land in the family, it was the one promise that I had with my parents. They worked hard on this land. If I could marry you I would. I would do it in a heart beat." Kaji said with tears streaming down her face.

"Why do you need to keep this land in your family? I could buy us knew land. Land far away from here. You have visions here Kaji. Horrible visions. Why would you want to stay? If you don't want land then we could go and visit your aunt Asami, her son Ayaki called and said that we could always stay there for a while if we wanted to…. Why are you so stubborn?" Takeo's voice was slowly rising in volume.

Kaji placed her hand on his lips. "Not here, I'll meet you later. Just please not here."

The group of onlookers had begun to make their way over to the couple as though they were leaving but it was obvious that they were just trying to hear what the two were saying.

Takeo nodded taking Kaji's hand in his and giving it a small kiss. "You do know that I love you right?"

"Yes, and so do I, with all my heart."

Hours past by in what seemed to be a few seconds. Mai was now standing in front of the house that now belonged to Kaji. Takeo walked up to the door and knocked waiting for the young woman to answer. While waiting for the doors to open, Mai looked at her surroundings. She noticed that surrounding the large farm was an immense forest. It was only then that she realized that she was in the past Hosei Point. Or at least what it was before Hosei Point.

The door opened letting both Mai and Takeo into the front room.

Takeo watched as Kaji took his jacket and placed it on a coat rack. He gently grabbed her shoulder turning her around in order to give her a light kiss.

Kaji looked at Takeo in wide eyed wonderment. Taking his hand, she led him to a bench.

Sitting down together, Kaji began, "Earlier, you asked me why I need to keep this place in my family. The truth is that both my mother and I have had a reoccurring vision that one of our decedents would end up saving a lot of the people who will live here in the future. Sadly though, they will only do so in death."

"So, let me get this straight. The only reason you are staying is to help someone in the future save a lot of people and in the mean while, your future supposed relative is going to die because of it?" Takeo looked as though he could not believe what he was hearing. "Did you ever stop to think that you could be wrong, there is always a possibility that nothing will happen. Not only that, we have many extended family, how do you know that it is from this part of the family?"

"When you say it that way then of coarse it sounds horrible but the truth of the matter is that even if it has a small chance of happening, I can't just allow so many people to die. And your right, I don't know if its from my part of the family. All I know is that this land has always been in the vision. Since I am the only one on this land, then it only makes sense at the moment." Kaji said standing up.

Takeo stood up as well. Walking over to Kaji he pulled her into a hug. "Please, don't stay here."

Kaji stood up on her toes in order to reach Takeo's lips. Kissing them gently she replied, "I'm sorry…"

Takeo pulled back, "There's no way I'm going to let him have you."

Again, Mai was sent back into the dark world of the spirit world.

"So then… Kaji can see 'things' in her dreams and because of these dreams she thinks she cant marry Takeo? I don't get it…. Why not Takeo, why Jun?" Mai asked the tired looking Gene

"Because Mai, he is the son of a big financial group. He came up with black mail and now he is using it."

"What black mail?" Mai asked annoyed.

"Her father had apparently invested in Jun's fathers company. A fraudulent case occurred afterwards and in order for Kai's name not to be brought up, Kaji had been promised already to the son, Jun. "

"WAIT, WHAT!"

Sighing Gene continued to explain, "Kaji had the right to choose not to marry Jun though it would severely damage her fathers name if she didn't. Though there is much more to the plan then just that. You will see soon"

Before Mai could say anything else, Gene pointed her to the next part of the dream.

Mai found herself out of the darkness, It took Mai a little bit to realize but it was a somewhere around seven to eight months after what Mai had just seen.

Mai was now in a hospital room where it seemed that Kaji had just given birth.

"Nurse, where is Takeo?" Kaji asked while holding a sleeping child in her arms. She could not get rid of the bad feeling in her stomach.

"Um…" the nurse hesitated before speaking… "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

The nurse did not have to continue. A few nights before, Kaji had had a dream about Takeo getting into an accident. She tried talking him out of it but he had insisted on going to look at the land he had found for them to purchase. Kaji burst into tears when the door to her room opened allowing the last person on earth that she wanted to see in through the door.

"I see you have wasted little time having a little bundle of trash." Jun was glaring at the new born baby.

The nurse who had been inside the room quickly left. She had gone to find a head nurse only to have the nurse say, "You did not see a thing"

Kaji was to much in pain in order to say a word to the monster who stood in front of her. Jun stepped forward picking the child up in his arms. He studied the child as though it was an alien.

"I don't believe that you will be needing this since it is not in the marriage contract that you will be signing. Though then again… who would want to marry someone like you. I could just use this baby as a replacement."

Kaji let out a scream, a plea for help… her baby daughter was being taken from her. Her last piece of Takeo that she had left.

Mai could feel tears falling from her face. 'Why, why was this happening. Why was Gene showing it to her. Mai could not see the connection that this would have to the case. Was it just to torture her? What did this have to do with the fires. Why was she being made to see it?' Mai felt Gene place his arms around her in comfort.

"You need to see this Mai… Its only a small part of what is going on, but it still explains quite a lot later on."

Mai only nodded she could not bare seeing any more though she knew that she had to. Mai found herself once again in the fields that Kaji's father had planted. Though Mai knew already by the stench that what she was about to see would be horrible. Laying dead in amongst the rice patty's was Kaji's dead body.

Mai placed her hands over her eyes as though it would help get rid of the picture that was now etched into her mind.

The scene changed to show Jun holding the baby in his arms. He was standing in front of a large apartment complex in Tokyo. Walking inside, Jun knew who he was going to meet. He was meeting up with the governor of the newly created Hosei Point. Mr. Hosei himself.

Gene allowed Mai to calm down by placing his hand over her shoulder

"Kaji's father had promised that one of his heir's would be given to Mr. Hosei at some point. The only way it could happen was if Kaji married the son of a rich company who did not want a child in the first place. Kaji's father hated doing this to his daughter but he had nothing he could do about it."

Gene paused giving Mai the chance to figure out what was going on before moving onto the next part of the story.

"Mai, you have already met the next family."

Images of the Daughter getting her own place to live in flew inside Mai's head. It was only then that Mai could see the similarities between the girl and her parents Kaji and Takeo. There were no similarities between the girl and her said to be mother. She still was not sure what the father looked like though. Why was his face darkened? (chapter seven)

"So, I'm guessing I will be seeing them now?" Mai asked.

"Yes… make sure to pay attention. Naru would be disappointed if you didn't." Gene said with a smirk. Before Mai could pummel the teenager, she found herself back in the house that she and Martin had gone to investigate.

(continued in next part of chapter ten.)

A/N:

I am so sorry that this sucks and has taken so long to post. I will defiantly be posting the rest of chapter ten as soon as possible. Again… sorry if this is confusing.


	11. Chapter 10 pt2 The Mayors Past

A/N: So here is part two of chapter ten…. I'm really starting to not like chapter ten but there is nothing I can do about it. All I can say is hold on until chapter eleven cause from then on everything should be great. :D …. (I hope)

I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT.

Again, this is dedicated to all the readers

(PREVIOUSLY ON CHAPTER TEN)

Gene allowed Mai to calm down before moving onto the next part of the story.

"Mai, you have already met the next family."

Images of the Daughter getting her own place to live in flew inside Mai's head. It was only then that Mai could see the similarities between the girl and her parents Kaji and Takeo. There were no similarities between the girl and her so called mother. She still was not sure what the father looked like though. Why was his face darkened? (chapter seven)

"So, I'm guessing I will be seeing them now?" Mai asked.

"Yes… make sure to pay attention. Naru would be disappointed if you didn't." Gene said with a smirk. Before Mai could pummel the teenager, she found herself back in the house that she and Martin had gone to investigate.

THEME MUSIC

CHAPTER TEN- PART TWO

(Mayor Hotaru and his family)

Mai opened her eyes to find herself laying on a bed. A bed with white sheets and white painted railings. It was almost surreal. The way that when Mai sat up her hair falling quietly into place. It was only when she looked around that she realized where she was. Though it should not have taken her so long since she had just been their a couple of hours ago.

Looking around, Mai found that she was back in the house with the young girl and her parents. The house that both she and Martin had been investigating. Why Mai was laying on the bed she did not know. Though most of her visions never left her with completely answered questions. The parents, who were giving the daughter a hug caught Mai's eyes.

'They're the Hosei's.'

Mai had seen Mr. and Mrs. Hosei when Jun had brought the young baby to them. Now she was seeing them in the house that she had just come back from. The house that was most defiantly haunted. Now with this in mind, It was obvious that the girl was not 'their' daughter. The girl had brown wavy hair and her eyes, just like her mother before her, were a mossy green with hints of brown. This girl was defiantly the daughter of Kaji and Takeo.

The Hosei's were leaving their 'daughter' alone in her new house.

Mai could feel the nerves that came when something bad was going to happen. She did not know why but even if the people were not her real parents, she felt that they were the only ones who could keep the young girl safe.

"DON'T LEAVE HER!" Mai yelled out only to have Gene grab her arm. Mai looked at the offending arm then up at the person that it was attached to.

"You should know by now Mai. There's nothing that you can do to stop what has already happened."

Mai looked down at her feet. Why did she have to see this then?

Gene's eyes shown sadness in the sky blue of his eyes.

Mai turned her head back towards the scene. She knew that there was a reason for this and that if she did not do it then no one would.

"I'll see you tomorrow okay." the daughter waved her arms at her parents.

The mother waved back and began to walk away while the father stayed in place for a while. It looked as though he was hesitating. As though he felt the same danger that Mai was feeling. Sadly, the man turned away to follow his wife only stopping to say, "I'll see you tomorrow Airi."

Airi (the daughter) dropped her hand as though saddened by the thought of her parents leaving her. Mai followed the parents at first. Walking up to them Mai listened to their conversation

"Are you sure that it's a good idea leaving her alone on the first day?" Mrs. Hosei asked her husband.

Mr. Hosei looked as though he was deep in thought, "If we did not let her get out of our house, she would become even more persistent on her origins. You know that she has been questioning it. This was the only way to get her mind on something else." Mr. Hosei said in a low but deep voice.

"What about her Aunt. If she keeps poking around soon enough everyone will know about our daughter. I can't stand the possibility of losing her." Mrs. Hosei said looking down at her hands as though they had something on them.

"Mrs. Asami won't find anything out, I can promise you that. Already, everyone is starting to think of her as a loon. Her son included." Mr. Hosei said.

Mai could feel herself being pulled back to the house where Airi was just closing the doors.

Airi paused at her front door looking at the place that was now her own. It was quite. Sighing, she went up the stairs to her room. Mai followed but stopped when the girl closed the door to her room.

"Gene, what's going to happen? Maybe if you tell me it won't make it so hard when it actually does." Mai asked with hope in her eyes.

"If I could tell you I would. The five ghosts (previous story) would have my head if I did so."

"Ah, come on Gene, don't tell me you're as Narcissistic as your brother." Mai laughed.

Gene laughed as well, "it is in our blood… speaking about blood, I believe that it is time for you to head in."

Mai could see that the light in Airi's room had been turned off. Walking through the door, Mai walked over to the bed where the young woman was now sleeping obviously having a nightmare. Mai knew better though. This was not one of those normal nightmares. Airi had inherited the gift/curse that her mother Kaji had had when she was alive. No one, not even Jun, the guy who had taken her as a baby to the Hosei's, could deny the blood that Airi had inherited.

Mai felt the urge to comfort the girl when said girl had woken up screaming.

"NO!" Airi screamed out loud quickly standing from her and rushing to her window.

"Gene, what did she see?" Mai asked.

Gene only nodded towards the window where Mai had suddenly found herself a moment later.

Dark shadows ran across Airi's front lawn towards her front door. The shadows were that of three boys who had idea's in their mind that were not good.

Suddenly it was as if Mai had switched positions. She was now acting the part of Airi.

"GENE!" Mai screamed out inside her head. She did not want to go through this. Mai could do nothing though but go through the emotions that Airi had gone through so many years past.

(Airi's POVish sort of thing)

'No…I can't remember… did I lock the door or not?' Airi thought. The slamming of her door seemed to answer her question as well as the pounding of feet coming up her stairs.

Airi quickly ran to her door and as she was closing her bedroom door she could see the first of the three boys arrive at the top of her stairs.

Slamming the door, She locked the latch.

'I have to get out of here. I don't want them to get me.' she thought in a panicked tone.

The sounds of the boys banging on her doors now reached her. She had no choice.

'I can do this… all I have to do is not look down.' Airi's gaze had found itself placed on the window that opened to the outside world.

Opening the latch to the window and trying her best not to listen to the sounds of the boy's trying to enter her room, she placed her first foot on the window sill.

'Don't look down… don't look down…' Airi kept repeating to herself

(Mai's thoughts)

_Mai could only think, though she knew that Airi would not hear her… 'there has to be another way. WERE GOING TO DIE!'_

As Mai had thought, though not quite to the extreme that she had gone, Airi's foot slipped from the ledge allowing the force of gravity to pull her towards the ground. Luckily for Mai and Airi, the fall had stopped. Airi had managed to grab the same ledge with her hands. Though luck did not seem to be on either of the girls sides. The ledge she had grabbed onto, due to the fact that it was not used to having weight placed on it, collapsed sending the girl falling to the earth bellow.

A sickening crack echoed through the air causing Airi to let out a loud gasp before the tears began to flow. She had fallen in just the perfect position to make her leg break beneath her.

The sound of the boys banging on the Airi's bedroom door stopped as they had finally made their way in only to find that their prey had escaped but only to get outside, injured, on the ground bellow.

Airi could swear that the face that looked down at her from above had an evil smile planted on his face. For a second, she even thought that the face had a sort of strange appearance to it. As though it was not even there. As though it was a ghost.

'NO!' Airi thought trying to pull herself up only to collapse again.

The face had disappeared back inside so that it would be able to appear before her again on the outside.

'NO!' Airi thought again. 'this can't be happening. Why isn't father here? With his big strong arms. Why isn't mother here with her warm loving embrace. A tiny voice inside her, a voice that had been there since she had first learned to listen to it said, 'cause they aren't your parents. Your parents are dead… long dead.'

"SHUT UP!" Airi found herself crying out loud

She had to get out of there, and if it was not going to be by walking it would certainly be by crawling.

Airi knew she was only kidding herself. How could anyone get away from a group of strong able boys with the intentions of catching you when you were only crawling away.

Her intuition found itself correct as the boys caught up to her with bloody intentions and all. The face that had peered down at her from the balcony now peered down at her with its malevolent glare as the boys continued their job.

(~Mai~)

The last thing that Mai saw from the time that she was acting as Airi was a long silver glinting knife being pressed against her throat.

~~~~Mai woke to find herself back in the house that she had come to know as Airi's house. She could feel her chest rising quickly. Up and down up and down up and down…. The repeating pattern causing her to realize that she was not dead. In fact, neither was Airi.

Airi was sitting with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders staring at the fire place in front of her. Airi's mother, Mrs. Hosei, had brought tea for her daughter but the young girl would no longer take the tea. Her moss green eyes were no longer filled with the joy that it had once held. Airi's hand rested upon her growing stomach.

Mai noticed the bruises that traveled their way across the young girls features. They were pale signaling the fact that a few months had already passed by. The cuts that had bled were gone and only faint scars could be seen left on her skin. The girls lips were dried to a point in which they were now cracked and bleeding as well.

Mai could feel the tears start to flow down her face. There was no connection between the two girls but Mai could still see and feel the anguish that Airi must be feeling at that moment.

Yelling from the other room came pouring through the door, causing Mrs. Hosei to stand up and walk towards said door to close it.

Mai had to hear the argument though so she left the young seemingly lifeless girl behind with her substitute mother. So that she could hear the substitute father, Mr. Hosei himself, berating the young cop who stood in front of him.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN CATCH THOSE CRIMINAL SCUM?" Mr. Hosei's voice and temper had risen to a level that Mai had never seen before.

"I'm sorry Mayor Hosei but…." The young cop tried to plead

"SORRY! SORRY! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE SORRY. ITS ALREADY BEEN SEVEN MONTHS, MY DAUGHTER IS SITTING IN THAT ROOM OVER THERE AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER IF SHE WAS DEAD. SHE IS LIFELESS EVEN IF SHE IS STILL BREATHING AND HER HEART STILL BEATING. YOU KNOW WHAT THOSE SCUM DID TO HER YOU KNOW WHAT SHE HAS GONE THROUGH, AND NOW SHE'S HAVING ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN." Mr. Hosei yelled. His face a bright angry red and his eyes which had turned bloodshot from the amount of alcohol consumed betting on which would fall out first.

"Mayor Hosei, I know how you feel but there's nothing I can do. The boys are already dead. We found them a few hours ago drowned in the lake." The young cop looked as though he was thoroughly exhausted. "I'm sorry Mayor Hosei. But I will need to go now. At least we can rest easy knowing that they will not be able to harm any others."

The cop exited the house leaving an overly irate man standing in the middle of the kitchen

"we can not rest. All boys are the same… every single one of them. They ruined my daughter. I will rid this world of all its evil. All young boys included." Mai's eyes opened wide. What Mayor Hosei had just said reminded Mai so much of what Mayor Tsubasa had continuously claimed to be his life's mission.

"_Ah… so you've finally figured it out."_ a ghostly voice echoed through the room.

Mai's eyes widened. Did something find her while she was dreaming?

"WHOS THERE!" Mayor Hosei asked. Looking around wide eyed.

It was only then that Mai realized that this was still part of the dream. A ghost had appeared before Mayor Hosei. Its face emanating the same malevolence that it had before when it was with the boys who attacked Airi.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Mr. Hosei cried out. The worried, "what's going on?" from his wife seemed to completely escape Mr. Hosei's notice.

"_It took you long enough for you to notice me, let alone to make you have something that you would need my help with. You know… all the energy that ebbs off of this town is so…delicious… and its all coming from you." _The ghost said with a drawling voice.

"What are you talking about." Mr. Hosei's voice seemed to calm a little.

"_Ah… my dear boy… the question of the hour… it all started when you took Airi. Your daughter… or should I say Kaji's daughter. I had actually been watching them for a while, trying to get ahold of them… For some reason I never could. But you… you did what I couldn't. you took the daughter and not only that but you managed to have Kaji killed. Do you know how amazingly delicious all that energy was? I've decided that you are so much more interesting then Kaji's family ever was. I could use you. And you could use me. You want to rid the world of all the degenerates don't you?"_ The ghost asked tauntingly

Mai watched in horror as Mayor Hosei took out a match.

"_ah… so I see you get my point. In order for me to help you, you have to give me something. Something that is important to you. Such as your wife…and your daughter."_

"Honey, whats going on in there…" the voice of Mr. Hosei's wife rung through the house.

"Okay…"

The final word that Mr. Hosei spoke sent chills down her spine. How could he agree to a deal with such an evil spirit so readily. No… not a spirit… a monster… a demon.

Mr. Hosei lit the whole house ablaze. With the demon's help, he made that none in his family would escape.

The cop who had left just moments before was left with not much to do but to listen to the screams of the family inside. Mai cried as she watched the cop run into the building and carry out a still lifeless Airi. Mai knew that even if Airi did not survive, the baby inside her would have to. Both Airi's mother Kaji and Kaji's Mother Yue both predicted the future fate of their family members. Their fate would not be re written.

Mai again awoke to the faint floating orbs that marked the entrance of her into the spirit realm.

"Gene, did the child survive?" Mai asked with tears falling down her face.

Gene handed Mai a news paper article.

"_Mayor Hosei's House Burns Down With Family Inside: Only One to Survive."_

_The respected Mayor Hosei died today in a fire along with his wife and daughter. Recent news tells us that the daughter, pregnant with an attackers child, died as well. Amazingly, the child survived after an emergency c-section. The baby is now living with its relatives. It has come to our attention that Airi, was not Mr. and Mrs. Hosei's daughter but in fact the late, Kaji's daughter. An investigation should be readily made on the family and the coincidences. Airi's son is now living with his great Aunt Asami. Her son is also helping with the care of the young boy._

Mai finished reading the article, "So then, if Naru has Yasuhara do a background check, he should find this right?"

Gene shook his head no, "Right after this, Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru arrived, he made sure that this news would never make it out of Hosei Point. Let alone anywhere in Hosei Point. Anyone who threatened to come out with any information that Mr. Tsubasa deemed not important would find that they had a much fewer time to live."

"wait, you're saying that Mayor Tsubasa is killing people?"

"Watch…" was all Gene said.

Mai watched as the flames licked the house of Mayor Hosei. Some movement at the back of her house caught her attention. "wait is that…"

Sure enough out of the house stumbled an on fire Mr. Hosei.

Mai covered her mouth in horror as the ghostly voice spoke out…

"_you will become my body. I will use you in order to make your goal come true. Though I will benefit by the countless souls you will so readily bring me."_

Mr. Hosei's body fell to the ground not moving. The ghost moved slowly to Mr. Hosei's body engulfing it in a strange glow. Slowly, the body stood up. And in place of Mr. Hosei's body stood the now present….

"_MAYOR TSUBASA HOTARU!" _

_Mai's voice echoed throughout the forest._

A/N: (okay I hate this memory…. I could not figure out how to do it…. Either way, Airi's baby from the attack survives and grows up to become the father of a certain boy we come to know later on. Yes… Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru is as you all hopefully suspected much eviler then was previously written. Though he is not a demon. It is a demon that is using him. Mayor Tsubasa was previously Mayor Hosei. Mayor Hosei had made a pact with the demon which the demon in turn will now use the Mayor to do its bidding. Mayor Hosei/Tsubasa has his own will its just that he is being used. Hopefully that makes sense.)

To be continued...


	12. Chapter 10 pt3 Ayden and Orion

**A/N:**

_I have an idea for another ghost hunt story, so I need to finish this one up so that I can start writing it. I have totally messed this story up and it probably won't make sense by the end of it…. : ( sigh….. On a happier note, This is dedicated to anyone who is still reading this story._

**I don't own ghost hunt. If I did, the show would have been canceled by now…**

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_**Previously on Chapter Ten part two**_

_Mai watched as the flames licked the house of Mayor Hosei. Some movement at the back of the house caught her attention. "wait is that…"_

_Sure enough out of the house stumbled an on fire Mr. Hosei. _

_Mai covered her mouth in horror as the ghostly voice spoke out…_

"_you will become my body. I will use you in order to make your goal come true. Though I will benefit by the countless souls you will so readily bring me."_

_Mr. Hosei's body fell to the ground not moving. The ghost moved slowly to Mr. Hosei's body engulfing it in a strange glow. Slowly, the body stood up. And in place of Mr. Hosei's body stood the now present…._

"_TSUBASA HOTARU!" _

_Mai's voice echoed throughout the forest._

_(start theme music)_

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**Chapter Ten ~part three~**

"GENE, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON. HOW COULD MAYOR TSUBASA BE THE ONE CAUSING ALL OF THIS?" Mai yelled at the black haired and blue eyed teenaged spirit guide standing in front of her.

"First off Mai, could you keep your voice down, I'm quite sure that everyone including the 'five ghosts' can hear you right now, Secondly, Mayor Tsubasa is not the only one causing this. The demon is the main one in control." Gene said as though it was natural to be able to come up with such an explanation

"I may be wrong Gene, but if it was not for Mayor Hosei getting involved with Kaji's family then the demon would never have appeared. It was attracted by the 'scent' of what was going on." Mai said folding her arms as though she was quite sure of herself.

"Well, if you want to put it that way then yes, it was the fault of the Mayor but still, the Mayor is not the one you should be worried about Mai. Now I'm going to show you the next scene from the past. I need you to pay attention. I know that this is a lot to remember but it will help Naru finish the case." Gene said urgently.

"Since when does it always have to be Naru who saves the day? Couldn't we change things up a bit and make it so that I save the day?" Mai asked with a pout.

"Come on Mai, the last time I checked you were more clumsy then heroic, when you can walk and hold a box of books at the same time while talking let me know and I'll have the 'five ghosts' upgrade you to Heroine." Gene said with a laugh. Noticing that his spirit self was in danger of fading from the world completely if Mai finished what she was planning to do, Gene pushed Mai into the dream.

(English speech)

"MOM! MOM!" the sound of a young boy's voice came echoing down the airport terminal. "The planes arrived!" the boy's voice quieted at the glare the mother was giving him.

"Ayden, if I ever knew of a child louder then you, I can not remember such." the mother said shaking her head but with an obvious smile forming across her face.

"But Mom~! The plane has arrived, we will be leaving for Japan and probably never returning to America… What is Japan like?" The young Ayden had a look on his face as though he was overly curious and his form in questioning proved that he was an overly curious child.

"You'll have to ask your dad. He was born there" the woman replied with a look on her face as though what she had just stated had more to it then what the boy had been asking for.

Mai watched as the family, the mother and Ayden walk onto the plane followed by the son who had the same eyes as Kaji and Airi. Mai gasped as the realization set in. The father was indeed the son of Airi.

"Dad, are we going to see your Cousin Ayaki when we arrive in Japan?" Ayden asked.

Mai tried to place the name. Gene was right. It was difficult to remember all of what had happened so far. It was only then that she remembered that Ayaki was Asami's son while Asami was Kaji's Aunt.

"No, we will be arriving in a town called Hosei Point. I was born there. Actually, that is the reason for why we are going, I want to see what it is like, we might leave so don't get to comfortable." The dad said while looking out the window of the plane.

The planes intercom turned on announcing that the plane would be taking off and to please keep the seat belts on.

Mai felt disoriented as the plane began its bumpy start. It was like she had been thrown through a wind pipe as she now realized that her surroundings were now that of the trees surrounding Hosei Point.

"You should never have come here!"

Mai heard the pound of someone falling onto the forest floor along with a groan of pain. Another groan of pain was heard as the one of the tall lanky teenage boys kicked Ayden in the side before walking off.

"YEAH, WELL I WISH I NEVER CAME HERE AS WELL!" Ayden yelled after the boys before standing up slowly and wiping off his trousers. Dirt covered the tear streaks that had ran down his face.

"AYDEN, WHERE DID YOU GO!" came a strangely familiar voice.

"I'm over here" Ayden called out followed by a horrible sounding cough.

"What - happened?" Mai's eyes widened in shock as she saw who the now angered voice belonged too.

"Gene, don't worry about it. This happens all the time. Its just some crazy teenagers who think that they can get on the good side of Mayor Tsubasa. That's all…" Ayden said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"That's not ALL and what is it about Mayor Tsubasa that's got everyone trembling in fear?" Gene asked.

Mai was both surprised to see Gene in one of her visions when it was not as the guide. She also found it cute to see a younger version of Gene. She wondered if Naru looked exactly the same as a child.

"I don't know. There's something about him. I keep having these strange dreams about him though I can't make any sense out of them. All I know is that something bad is going to happen." Ayden said with heavy eyes.

"You should come meet my dad, he could help you… well both he and my brother. Don't tell anyone but my dad's the head of a Psychic Researching group. The head boss. And my brother. He's my twin but he has such COOL powers. Though you might have to convince him to help, he's such an idiot scientist that he'd probably find that your case is not worth the time and effort. Although he is cool, he's not as fun as I am." Gene continued on and on about the differences between him and his brother until the sound of Ayden's laughter pulled him away from his bragging.

"Gene, thanks… I'm glad that I met you. How about we go to my place?" Ayden asked, obviously trying to change the topic away from Mayor Tsubasa.

Gene could tell what Ayden was trying to do but agreed anyways.

Mai watched as the two boy's walked out of the forest together talking about what they would do once they arrived at Ayden's house

"Gene, where are you?" Mai called out to the now empty forest.

"I'm here Mai," Gene's voice came with a hint of sadness to it, "as you can see, Ayden was not a bad child. Its only because of how long he's been around as a spirit that his soul is becoming damaged."

"So then, if we made it so that he could move on, would his soul become pure again?" Mai asked, hoping for a good reply.

"It's possible, but that's only if he wants to be saved, his soul could be so damaged by now that he would not be able to even make a decision." Gene said, again with that strange worried voice in which Mai had not heard many times before.

"Well, I'll try my best to save him." Mai smiled her wide smile that made everyone no-matter their circumstances feel better. "I should probably head to where ever the dreams taking me. I don't want to miss any information that could keep Naru from calling me an idiot every ten seconds."

Gene smiled and nodded his head.

Mai found herself standing inside a room that was obviously set up for a child. Both Ayden and Gene were sitting cross legged in front of a running toy train.

"See, and if you do this…." suddenly a noise that sounded like a recorded train whistle blasted out from the train set.

"WOW! This is cool, hey, if my brother was here, he could make the train go much faster then this. Maybe I can call him over." Gene said as though he was wondering if he should even consider bringing his overly ambitious brother over. (ambitious in the studying category)

"Ayden, its time for dinner…" came the sound of Ayden's mother.

"Ah, looks like it will have to wait for next time. I should probably get going before my idiot scientist of a brother calls the English Calvary after me."

Ayden laughed in agreement and waved good bye as Gene walked out of his house towards the bus that had arrived to take him back to his dad and brother staying at a hotel not to far from Hosei Point.

"So, Ayden, did you have fun with that boy?" Ayden's father asked while still looking at his news paper.

"he's not just, 'that boy' his name is Gene, and he's the only good thing so far about actually moving here." This was all said in a quite voice but the way that Ayden had stomped out of the house made it obvious that he was angry.

Ayden did not watch where it was that he was going but he soon found himself outside the Mayor's House. Ayden swallowed hard, letting a gulping sound ring loud in his ears. He found his way to the window that looked into the Mayor's living room.

"YES, I KNOW…. I HAVE BUILT IT. I'VE EVEN STARTED BRINGING YOU WHAT YOU WANTED. NOW PLEASE, CAN'T YOU STOP THE PAIN. ITS BEEN 30 YEARS. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO KEEP THE MEDIA FROM FINDING OUT?" Mayor Tsubasa's voice rang through the house.

Ayden looked around trying to find out who the Mayor was talking to but he was not able to see anyone else inside the room.

A voice, unlike any he had heard before came uttering out of the Mayor's mouth. "Pain is necessary, keeps the one its being used on manageable. Always hoping for no pain. You are getting what you wanted though aren't you? The ability to rid the town of All trouble makers was it?" A laugh echoed through the house, "and look what I have brought you now… another trouble maker. All you have to do to get rid of it is to give it to me."

The hair on the back of Ayden's neck stood up as he saw the Mayor's eyes fall upon him.

Ayden pushed away from the window, quickly finding his way back to his house.

"AYDEN WHAT WERE YOU THINKING…. RUNNING OUT OF THE HOUSE…"

Ayden was not able to hear the rest of what his mother was saying as he had slammed his door shut tight. Locking it as precaution. He then went to his window shutting it and locking it as well. Closing the blinds he made sure that no one would able to take a peek inside. Curling up against his door, he listened to the soft whispering of his parents voices as a knock came on their front door. Ayden held his breath waiting for the voice that he dreaded the most. Mayor Tsubasa had come with his foul idea that Ayden should be locked away in his boarding school. At least that's what most of the kids in school thought. Ayden knew better though. He knew what would become of him. And seeing the Mayor talking… seemingly to himself was only further proof. Ayden's dreams were not just nightmares. They were reality. Ayden was going to die and he knew it. He also knew no one would believe him…. That is… except for Gene. Ayden quickly pulled out a pen and paper and wrote a quick note. Stashing it under a floor board.

'Gene…please find this…'

Mai watched as the scene faded to black right as Ayden's door unlocked itself. Allowing not only his thoroughly convinced parents in but also the Mayor who had done exactly what he had come to do. Ayden would be going to the supposed boarding school. And he would not be coming back…. At least that was what he had thought.

Mai felt as tears fell down her face.

"Gene, did you ever find that note?" Mai asked the dark clad boy who now stood sullenly in front of her.

"yes…. It was too late though. Even though I showed the note to my father and brother, they said that their was nothing they could do at the time. I had been angry at them for it for quite a while after that. I felt that they could have done more. Though what do I know. As far as I know, they could have been right. All I know is that Ayden is still in Hosei Point as a Ghost, and he is determined to see Mayor Tsubasa dead." Gene said.

Mai noticed that the teenager had his fists clenched in anger. Mai could not remember ever seeing Gene angry.

"there is one more thing for you to see, then you can go and tell Naru everything that you know. Blow him out of the water with the information you got okay… and make sure to tell him, 'I told you so' for me okay." a sad look had quickly appeared on his face though also quickly disappeared into his normal smile.

"I will." Mai said as she watched her vision dance in front of her eyes only to steady so that she could realize that she was now in front of a house that Luella and Masako had gone to during the setting of the cameras. In front of the window. As Ayden had done when looking through the Mayor's window, another young boy stood looking through the house's window.

"Misuki…" It was only when Mai walked closer that she realized that it was Orion.

"Orion, what are you doing here?" Mai called out. She was a little surprised when the boy actually turned and looked at her but she tried to keep the surprise off of her face.

"My sister…" he said turning his head back towards the window he had been peering in.

"Wait, what sister? Orion, you did not have a sister it was only your mother and yourself in the last memory I saw of yours." Mai said clearly confused.

"My father was their too. Though he left after my sister was born. She's five years old now you know. She never knew me but mom's told her about me. Do you know that every now and then she will go out into the forest and look for me. She won't find me though. No one can see me… why can you?" Orion asked suddenly turning back towards Mai.

"I'm like you. Though you were probably more on the side of Clairvoyance then what I am. According to Naru, I have a really good since of self preservation (not sure of the exact words) though I have also been able to travel to the spirit realm while asleep…. My powers are actually much more than that its just that I don't have control of all of it yet."

Orion nodded then realizing what Mai had said his eyes opened wide… "So wait… you believe me? No one's ever believed me. I tried to tell everyone about Mayor Tsubasa but…. Since I was new to the town… There was nothing I could do. But who was that voice I was hearing? It sounded like a boy… he was my friend… at least I thought he was. Why did he kill me?" Orion was now crying

"Wait, What do you mean he killed you? Are you talking about Ayden?" Mai asked

**(Flashback- Mai sees this - From chapter one) **

_"Fire!"_

_Came a cry which could be heard throughout the small village. The only light had been from the ivory colored moon, which now was being covered by dark black smoke._

_"Mother!" Came a quiet cry, barely heard over the sounds of the police sirens._

_**"Your mother is not here boy!"**__ said a menacingly evil voice though no one besides the young boy heard it._

_The young boy coughed and let out a silent cry, "I can't breath." silently getting out of his bed, the boy crawled on the floor towards his bedroom door.'I need to get out of here.' he thought to himself._

_**"If I were you I would not open that door."**__ An evil voice laughed._

_The boy looked at the bottom of the door. Light from the fire licked its way towards him. Backing away from the door, the boy cried out again. His lungs burned like the fire that threatened to consume him and his room._

_"I DON'T UNDERSTAND." He yelled to the unseen voice._

_The ghostly voice only laughed._

_"WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN HEAR YOU? i THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS." the boy yelled out again pleadingly._

_**"You thought wrong!" **__the voice said with a deep angered tone._

_The boys body was thrown viciously out of his bedroom window. With his eyes still wide open, the dead boys eyes shown the horrors around him. Everywhere in the town, Fires were burning throughout the small town. A strong wind blew through the trees of the surrounding forest which had been completely untouched by the flames that were desperately trying to destroy any and everything in the town. _

_(end flashback)_

"That does not make sense… Gene?" Mai called out only to be met with silence and the sounds of the boy still crying in front of her.

"Orion, I'm sure that you must have understood it wrong. That does not sound like Ayden." Mai said with confidence ringing in her voice.

Orion nodded and looked back through the window.

"There's something I'd like you to tell my sister. Tell her that I love her." Orion said.

Mai walked over to look through the window only to dread what she was seeing.

Misuki was huddled in the corner while her mother desperately tried to get over to her. A fire was crawling its way through the house, heavy black smoke rising from the flames.

"Misuki!" Yuki cried out to her daughter

Back in Base (repeat)

_Before Naru could say anything further the sound of Mai's scream shock everyone from their reverie._

"_FIRE!" Mai's voice echoed down along the corridors of the hotel._

_Outside a loud siren sounded along with the eerie voice that clearly spoke._

"_why do you lie…_

_.While all the children cry_

_.You will know when you find the fire fly"_

Mai stood up from the couch quickly running out the base door.

Naru moved quickly into action following the only girl who could find her way into his heart

"MAI!"

* * *

A/N:

So the chapters that are mentioned in this chapter are chapters: one, seven, and nine.

I don't think there were any others

Sorry that this is turning out horribly I deffinatly do not like this chapter. but If I don't post something you guy's might think i've given up.

* * *

**The umpteenth(sp?) million characters that have appeared so far… possibly forgot a couple.**

**Ma**i - normal - has vision

**Naru **- normal - interviews client - worry's about Mai

**Lin** - normal - watches Naru

**Tsubasa Hotaru **- new character - evil - client - main sub character

**Gene **- normal - shows Mai vision

**Orion** - new character - young boy- dies in fire - main ghost

**Mother- YUKI **- new character- Orion's mother - does not believe Orion (find out that Yuki is both Orion and Misuki's mother in chapter 10-3

**Mizuki Tai **- new character - Orion's teacher (don't mix up with Misuki.)

**John Brown **- normal - not in story

**Momoka Nara **- New Character - Friend of Mai - Works at grocery store

**Mr. Momoka **- New Character - Manager of grocery store - friend of Mai - Father of Momoka Nara

**Yasuhara** - working with Yatzu from previous case - will help out on case though from far away

**Ayden Lee Thomas **- New Character - Died at boarding school - ghost - main ghost *(Is related to First Family or first owners of Hosei Point before it became known as Hosei Point)

**Takigawa **- normal

**Ayako **- normal

**Masako** - normal

**George Gray **- New Character - train personnel

**The Cook **- new character- present cook.

**Mischief making servers **- new character - not much to say about them

**Hayato: **New Character - Past cook**Luella Davis **- Naru and Gene's mother - help on case

**Martin Davis **- Naru and Gene's Father - help on case

**Detective Yatzu **- new character from last case - allowing Yasuhara to work with him.

**Hotel Woman in old kimono dress **- new character - very suspicious - ?

**Hideyoshi Ichiro **-Fire Chief - new character - nice

**Shou - **new character - not convinced about SPR - firefighter

**Jin- **new character - firefighter

**Yuki: **Orion and Misuki's Mother

**Misuki: **Daughter of Yuki, Sister of Orion

**Kaji: **Daughter of First Family. Related to through blood later on, Ayden

**Kai**: Father of Kaji

**Yue: **Mother of Kaji

**Asami**: Sister of Yue

**Ayaki: **Son of Asami

**Takeo: **partner/fiancé/boyfriend… not sure what to call him…. Of Kaji

**Jun: **evil character who tried to take Kaji away from Takeo. Gives Kaji's daughter to the Hosei's

**Airi: **Daughter of Takeo and Kaji though she was given to Mr. and Mrs. Hosei after both her parents were killed. Mother of son who becomes father of Ayden… don't think I gave him a name.

**Mr. Hosei: **First Mayor of Hosei Point, is Married to Mrs. Hosei. Took Airi from Jun who stole baby from Takeo and Kaji. Mr. Hosei turns out to also be Mayor Tsubasa after encountering a demon who was attracted by the negative energy being released from Hosei Point. Mr. Hosei/Mayor Tsubasa is not a Demon in himself. Its more that the demon has taken control of the body partially and is using Mr. Hosei/Mayor Tsubasa for its own will

**Mrs. Hosei: **Wife of Mr. Hosei

**DEMON: **evilness that arrived at Hosei Point due to all the negative energy being created by the families who lived their.

_**Misuki: **__Misuki, if you remember is the daughter of Yuki. In this chapter you have just found out that Yuki is the mother of Orion who passed away ten years ago. Misuki, who is five years old, never met her brother._


	13. Chapter 11 Demons Inferno

**A/N: **

This chapter is going to go back and forth between the characters. Hope you can keep up. :D

_Thank you guys so much for reading this story. I like this chapter though it is much shorter then the others that I have written._

_This story is dedicated to the following: Ariana Taniyama, BloddyXandra, SnowSisters, and Krissy2lip. Thank you guys for replying and helping me get through this complicated story._

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT.**

**!CHAPTER ELEVEN!**

_YES! I am finally through with chapter ten. :D_

The sound of Mai's scream echoed with the sirens that had just gone off around the town.

Before Mai could stand and race towards the door, Naru, who knew what she was about to do, quickly grabbed onto her arm pulling her away from the door that was now standing open waiting for her departure.

"No you don't…" Naru grunted as he felt himself almost fall forward with the force of her speed.

Mai's eyes, which had been stuck on the door turned to look into the blue eyes of her handsome boss. Naru could see the fear that had seeped into her eyes. The fear that was caused by whatever it was that she had been dreaming about.

"Mai, whats…" Ayako's voice started but was interrupted by Naru's commanding voice. A glare was sent his way from the red headed priestess who crossed her arms and threw herself down onto the couch with a humph. Takigawa who was about to head out to see what the commotion was all about sat down next to the priestess while Masako just stood with her hand risen to her mouth. Her eyes glaring at Naru's hand which still had a hold on Mai's arm.

"Lin, is there a camera aimed at where the fire is occurring?" Naru asked, still holding onto his assistant, which unknowingly to him had quickly come out of her shocked state and was now heading towards a destructive blow up. Her gaze, which had turned from fear laden to anger was now glaring daggers at said narcissist.

"I'm checking that now." Lin's fingers were quickly typing away at his keyboard.

Martin, who had been standing in the background with Luella, walked over to where the Chinese man was sitting and placed a hand at the back of the chair to look at the monitors as well.

"There!" Martin exclaimed pointing at a screen that was in the middle of all the other monitors. Mai watched as Orion's sister sat in the living room of their house. A sudden sound screamed through the sound equipment, allowing the team to hear once again the warning from Ayden's ghost.

The young girl stood up quickly looking around for the voice that she had obviously heard. A scream came again from the stereo system, but this time from the kitchen of Orion's house. The door that had led to the kitchen suddenly slammed shut, making it so that Orion's mom would not be able to get to her daughter. A flicker of light coming from the hallway caught the teams eyes. It was only then that they realized that it was a fire.

Mai, who again realized what it was that she was supposed to have been doing quickly pulled her arm away from Naru's grip.

"NARU, I'M SORRY, BUT I NEED TO SAVE HER. I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING LATER." after shouting this, Mai somehow, which was very annoying to Naru, escaped from the room. The sound of the front door of the hotel slamming made its way to the team.

The silence inside the room once Mai had left felt like it lasted for ages. It was quickly changed though when Naru strode towards the door intent on catching Mai.

"Stay here in case she comes back." Naru growled out while closing the door behind him. Again the room was sent into silence.

Takigawa chose to break it this time, "This may only be my opinion, but don't you think it would be best to follow him?"

Everyone nodded their head's but before everyone could head out all at once, Martin spoke up.

"I'll go, Noll is right, it would not do us any good if all of us left base. Stay here and watch for activity." Martin kissed Luella good bye then headed out the door, the same that Naru had done moments before.

"has anyone noticed that we don't seem to have much to do any more? I mean, come on…. Stay in the base. Might as well say go home." Takigawa said sarcastically.

The rest in the of the base sighed. Lin continued his typing

~8~

Naru raced after Mai. How was it that she could cause him so much trouble. It was almost like having Gene around all over again.

"Mai… stop it… you haven't thought this through." Naru growled out. His chest was pounding from having to run. He hated running. It did nothing but cause you to get out of breath. Plus it was pointless to run when you could just walk. Sadly, Mai had the tendency to just run off. Ever since he had hired her, he found that he had to run quite a bit more than normal.

"I HAVE TOO THOUGHT IT OUT… THERE IS A LITTLE GIRL TRAPPED IN THAT FIRE. IF WE DON'T GET TO HER, SHE WILL DIE." Mai had suddenly stopped running causing Naru almost to plow right into her.

A group of fire men passed right behind her heading towards where the black smoke was billowing into the air.

Naru grabbed a hold of both of Mai's arms, he only hesitated for a moment at the way she took in a breath. He had grabbed her arms to hard and hurt her injured arm. "You have not thought this through and don't try to tell me different. Those men who just passed behind you… this is their job. We are here to investigate the paranormal, not save every life that gets in its way."

Naru was knocked back by Mai's hand slapping his face.

"HOW ~ DARE ~ YOU!" Tears were now streaming down her face.

Martin who had finally caught up to the two stood in the background not sure whether or not to intercede.

"THIS IS PART OF THE PARANORMAL RESEARCH OLIVER… MAYBE IF YOU HAD UNDERSTOOD THIS, GENE WOULD HAVE NEVER DIED." Mai ran off again leaving a completely stunned Narcissist standing alone.

"Noll… you should go and get her… you need to tell…" Martin began

"I KNOW! " Naru yelled out angrily. He felt so stupid. He had meant to say that he did not want Mai to get hurt by rushing into things, and yet, he had let it come out in the wrong way.

Was Mai right? Had it really been because of his stupidity that Gene had died. So many times while Gene was away, Naru had had the urge to call his brother up and tell him to come home. But… he had been too busy with work… why could he not have listened to his instinct? Mai always listened to her instincts. It was just part of who she was. Maybe that was one of the reasons that Naru loved her. Because there was a part of her that he did not have himself.

"I told you to wait at base." Naru growled out again before heading after 'his' assistant.

Martin laughed. It was a defiantly different to see Naru with that type of expression on his face. Especially since the one it was directed at was a young lady who had seemed to dig her way into his existence.

~8~

Mai could feel the tears rushing down her face. She hated being upset with Naru but sometimes, he could just say the most ignorant things. The house was now in front of her. She could see all the smoke rushing out of the windows and out of the cracks in the roof. The mother of Orion, Yuki, stood in front of the house crying and yelling out for her daughter.

Mai was annoyed to see that the fire fighters who were there were not even trying to get into the house.

Driven by annoyance at the firefighters and at the fact that Orion himself had asked her to save his sister while she had been dreaming, Mai charged her way past the crowd and into the fire. It only surprised her a little that she had been able to even make her way into the house when there were so many who could have stopped her.

The flames from the fire were hot upon her skin. She could feel the sweat start to pour down her body.

"MISUKI! WHERE ARE YOU?" Mai felt the smoke flow into her throat as she spoke causing her to cough hard.

She covered her mouth and nose as best as she could with he shirt. Her eyes were burning and her instincts were telling her that she had to get out of the fire.

All around her there was a burning inferno. She watched as a part of the upper stairs fell down to the right of her, causing the door to the front to be blocked off.

'well, looks like I'll have to find another way out.' she thought

She called out again. Moving forward a bit trying to get away from the debris behind her.

"MISUKI! PLEASE, LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!" Another coughing fit racked her body as the smoke still found a way to enter her mouth. This reminded her so much of the way that Orion had died. Being suffocated by smoke then thrown out the window as though he was just a rag doll.

A small voice coming from her right caught her attention. "I'M HERE!" came the soft cry.

Mai could here that the voice was having a hard time breathing.

"I'M COMING. KEEP TALKING SO I CAN FIND YOU!" the urge to get out of there was growing even more as time past.

She broke her way through a door that led to the living room. Through the smoke, Mai could see the body of the young girl huddled in the corner. Mai was about to scream when she saw Orion's ghost trying its best to cover the young girl and save her from the fire. Sadly though, since he was a ghost, there was nothing he could actually do.

"Misuki…" Mai let out a sigh of relief, though it was quickly changed into a yell of panic as another beam from the ceiling collapsed down to the bottom floor. The little girl screamed and tried to grab a hold of her brother but only was met with air.

"BROTHER!" Misuki cried out.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry Misuki… I really am…" Orion cried out with his head hung

"It's okay you guy's, I'll save Misuki, Orion, can you help me find a way out so that I can save your sister?" Mai asked trying not to cough.

"FOLLOW ME!" Orion shouted out.

Mai picked the young girl up and followed the ghostly form of Orion. They had made their way into the kitchen where they were met by the ghost of Ayden.

"WHY ARE YOU DOINGTHIS!" Orion cried out.

"I'm… Not…" Ayden said with sadness and hesitation in his voice, "At least I don't think I am…" he was holding his head down looking at the ground

Ayden's form seemed to waver for a bit before his head suddenly snapped up and a look of evil appeared on his face.

"What oh what could we have here?" an evil voice that was not that of the young boy came forth through the Ayden's mouth.

"NO!" Mai screamed out as Ayden's ghost sent Orion flying out of the burning house.

Ayden's possessed spirit turned its glare back on Mai.

"I'm hungry… you know that… and your soul is just the thing I need to quench this hunger."

"YOUR NOT AYDEN!" Mai screamed at the ghost.

A maniacal laugh came forth through the ghosts mouth, "And how long did it take you to figure that out? No, I am not Ayden, I am what you call a Demon. And to tell you the truth, I'm tired of waiting for Tsubasa to deal with this."

The fire was now burning at the kitchen's door. Mai let out a loud pitched scream as her body was thrown out through the kitchen window. She was still holding onto Misuki. She had to protect her. There was no other way. Her world went dark.

~8~

Naru arrived at the burning house just as Mai ran in. "NO!" he yelled out. Trying to run in after her he dodged past as many of the fire fighters as he could, only to be stopped by Jin, one of the fire fighters.

Naru, who would be stopped by no one punched Jin in the face causing the fire fighter to be knocked backwards. Naru again tried to get to the front door of the house only this time to be stopped by the fire chief himself.

"THERE IS NO WAY I AM GOING TO ALLOW YOU IN there!" Hideyoshi Ichiro yelled at the young man who was now struggling against his grasp.

"YOU ALLOWED MY ASSISTANT TO GO IN THERE… I NEED TO GET HER OUT!" Naru could feel his cold, calculating, demeanor falling to bits as the flames continued to lick at the house.

"Ah stop your complaining." a voice from behind the two struggling men came.

"SHOU! NOT NOW!" the chief yelled at his underling.

"Look, I am not here to argue about the false Psychic team that the mayor hired, I am here to stop this fire, now if you have a problem with that, that's your own problem, I am going to go inside now and save the idiot and the child that is stuck in there. Now just keep this idiot," Shou pointed at Naru, "out of there. I don't need two idiots to save." Shou, wearing his fire suit and armed with an axe, charged through the front door, knocking away the beams that had fallen from the ceiling.

Naru felt another pair of hands grab a hold of him, only to turn and see his worried fathers face.

"She's…" Naru began feeling his words begin to falter

"She's going to be okay, Noll, you just have to believe that she will." Martin's wise voice said.

Naru nodded though he still felt the need to go chasing after Mai. The girl that had found a way into his heart.

~8~

"HEY, IDIOT, LITTLE GIRL… WHERE ARE YOU!" Shou yelled out through the flames.

'damn, how could anyone survive this…'

Shou made his way as carefully as he could through the debris.

"YOUR NOT AYDEN!"

'Ah, there she is, what is she talking about though… Ayden has been dead for more than ten years.' Shou thought to himself

"Hey, Idiot, we need to get you guys out of here…" Shou broke through the kitchen door only to see Mai get thrown out of the kitchen window.

"MAI!" Shou yelled making his way through the kitchen and out the kitchen door. He had not seen the spirit of Ayden who was making his own way out the kitchen door.

Running over to the young girls collapsed body, he noticed that she had protected the young Misuki from harm.

"Hey, idiot, what do you think your doing throwing yourself out the window like that?" Shou asked with a nervous chuckle.

Mai's eye which were covered with panic stared up at the fireman.

"Ta..e …" Mai let out a gasp covered order.

"What was that idiot? Your not making any sense." Shou asked wiping away the blood that was now oozing out of a cut on her left eye brow.

"TAKE…. HER and tell that idiot Narcissist it's a Demon !" Mai managed to yell out before being yanked away by the evil demon's pull.

Mai allowed Misuki to roll onto the ground in front of Shou.

Stuck in his spot by confusion and utter terror, Shou watched as Mai was dragged into the forest. Looking down at the young sobbing girl, Shou seemed to realize what had just happened.

"MAI!"

The fire continued to burn the house down. The top of the house, which had been waiting for such a moment, finally collapsed on itself, sending dust and sparks of flame flying every which way.

Misuki continued to cry as the a group of firefighters found their way to where Shou was now kneeling on the hard yet soft ground of the back yard leading towards the forest.

_A/N:_

_So, here is chapter Eleven. I had written four pages but then felt that it was a horrible chapter. So I deleted it and restarted it which left me with this. I think I like it. Though, giving Mai the chance to tell Naru about any part of what she realized in the dream turned out to be a little difficult. Its not like the Demon gave me much chance, let alone Mai's intuition to go charging head first into danger made it even harder._

_So, will Naru be able to figure anything out with the information of it being a demon or will he be left alone, cold, and….ALONE! Without his precious Mai? We will find out… and yes, by 'we, I also mean me. This is turning out to be a story that I have no clue as to what is going to happen. _

_CHARACTERS OF GHOST HUNT! WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WITH THIS STORY?_

_Mai: well, if I told you that, it would get rid of the suspense_

_Naru: ….brood…._

_JT: hey, Naru, whats wrong, why so serious?_

_Ayako: He's upset cause he does not know what is going to happen either._

_Gene: Ah cheer up brother, has JT ever let you down._

_Naru: ….GLARES….._

_Yasuhara: HEY! WHY CAN'T I SHOW UP…. WEREN'T YOU PLANNING ON BRINGING ME IN?_

_JT: well, at one point, I was thinking of doing so but… that sort of disappeared as being a plan. Along with the other multimillion ideas that were going to be part of this story_

_Yasuhara: Oh wells… at least I get to stick around with Detective Yatzu._

_Detective Yatzu: PLEASE…TAKE HIM WITH YOU…. I AM REGRETING EVER HIRING HIM AS AN ASSISTANT….._

_Yasuhara: ….evil grin…._

_Naru:….sigh…. "Mai, Tea…"_

_Everyone: HE TALKED!_


	14. Chapter 12 The Forest

**A/N:** _well, I think that I am getting better at writing for all of the characters now.. Not that it still does not need some improvement. I started out not liking this chapter… then I went back through and added a whole bunch of details and now I like it. that's all that matters._

_Its funny, even though I like getting replies, I am still scared to look at them, I am afraid that they are going to be critical type reviews… I don't know why I would think that though since the people who have reviewed are very wonderful people who enjoy the story._

_So therefore…_

_THANK YOU TO THE REPLIERS. THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED SOULY TO YOU…. Especially since it is so difficult to actually review a story. At least it is for me… I so need to get better at that as well…_

_**GHOST HUNT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME… THOUGH YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT SINCE THIS IS WAY TO LONG OF A CASE…**_

_**

* * *

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**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Smoke rose from the debris of the once burning house. Most of the fire fighters had returned to their post waiting for the next fire to begin while a small few stayed to help Orion's mother and young sister Misuki, pick their way through whatever was left. Naru was in a foul mood, and the SPR team could easily see this due to the fact that he was pacing back and forth in a very brisk manner. His face though was still as void as ever, not showing a single emotion. Luella was unsure as to whether she should walk up to her son or if she should just stay back and let him blow off his steam however he pleased. Although she had come to the conclusion, it did not mean that the rest of the SPR team had.

"Naru! We have to do something, pacing around and digging a grave for yourself is not going to bring Mai…" Takigawa arrogantly glared at Naru while giving his piece of mind though was quickly interrupted by a more improved glare by Naru himself.

Naru had the mind to punch Takigawa, he would not care if his façade dropped now. Takigawa had no right to tell him ANYTHING. Naru already knew that they had to come up with a plan fast. If they didn't Mai… Mai could be in an even worse situation then she was in now… That was of course, if she was even still alive.

` "SHOU…" Naru turned his glare on the single firefighter who had not been searching through the debris, "Tell . Me . Again . What . Happened." He had a very hard time pacing his words so that it would not sound to angered. Though he failed since most of the words were said through clenched teeth.

"I told you, I walked into the house in order to find the idiot and…" the next voice to speak up was a clearly angered Miko. Ayako had had tears running down her face far longer than the recent talk had begun, now they were pouring out in anger,

"HER NAME IS MAI!" Ayako then proceeded to cry on Takigawa's shoulder. Takigawa hesitantly placed his hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her. Comforting though was not part of his job description though when it came to the Miko, he was more comfortable with actually arguing with her or teasing her. His face had gone a deep red, a red in which Mai had patented along time ago when a certain Narcissist ever called her out.

Shou looked completely defeated as he looked down at the ground in sorrow, "Sorry… I had gone to find Mai and Misuki. I heard Mai yell, 'Your not Ayden.' I was confused because I already knew that Ayden had been dead for more than ten years. Anyways, I followed her voice towards the kitchen. When I entered, Mai was… Mai was thrown out the kitchen window."

Many on the SPR team shuddered at hearing that Mai was thrown through the window, the Miko's cries grew even louder at this and Masako looked as though she would be sick. Its not like Masako did not care, in fact, she cared quite a bit for Mai. It was only at times like these that she would ever admit it though. She tried telling herself it was mainly for the fact that Mai was a great competitor and that if she died, Masako would get Naru right away. Masako did not want that, She wanted to beat Mai fair and square. If Mai died, how could she ever say that she had fairly beat Mai.

" I swear," Shou continued, "it looked so much like a rag doll being thrown. I ran out the kitchen door to find her laying here with Misuki crying in her arms. The terror in Mai's eyes… I should have known… I should have realized, I could have saved her had I realized, She told me to take Misuki and to tell you," he motioned towards Naru, Naru's jaw line clenched at hearing that Mai had wanted to tell him something, "She wanted me to tell you that it was a demon. Right after she told me this, she was pulled away by what, I don't know, I couldn't see anything. She was pulled into the forest… Her…her eyes…her eyes were so scared…" Shou finished explaining what had happened. It was clear that he was very troubled by the experience. He looked tired and beat.

"Will she be okay?" Shou asked with a tremble in his voice.

It was strange to see a grown man in such a nervous state.

"Lets hope she is… maybe this will get you to actually trust us…" Naru growled out turning away from the ragtag group and heading towards the forest.

"NARU STOP!" Lin ran up to the young teenager only to have his hand hit away from said boys' shoulder.

"Do…Not…Touch…Me…" Naru growled livid at the very thought of the Chinese man trying to stop him. Lin noticed the dirt and small pebbles on the ground begin to tremble.

"Naru, you can't do this on your own, you need to let us know what is going on." Lin said less concerned at the fact that he was being glared at and more at the thought of Naru heading off somewhere just to blow up anything that stood in his path.

"What do you think I'm doing, I'm going to save Mai." Naru said as calmly as he possibly could though it was obvious that his patience was growing thin. At least, Lin thought as the power that the young man had inadvertently expelled had stopped its work on the ground's covering, he's at least gained some control again. Although it was very precarious control.

"Well, then, we are coming with you." Takigawa said stepping away from the hiccupping Miko and towards the irate teenager in black, "And don't try to tell us any different. So far, you have kept to yourself, not telling us very much of what is going on in the case. If you think that you can keep us from 'our' Mai then you've got another thing coming." Naru's eyes glared even more at the word 'our' it was his Mai… Naru shifted his weight between his feet trying to tell himself that Takigawa was right of course. No matter how much Naru himself loved Mai, that did not change the fact that the whole of SPR was like a family to her.

"Not only that, do you even know where to start looking." Luella said with sadness in her eyes. The last time she could remember Naru being like this was when he found out that Gene had died. How she wished that day had never happened, Naru had been a bright child, not only in smarts but in attitude as well. Always smiling though maybe not as much as Gene did. After Gene's death, for a smile on Oliver's face to actually appear was a rare sight indeed.

"They are right son." Martin said, noticing how close to tears Luella was beginning to come to, "don't take this all on by yourself. You did that with Gene, Mai would not want you to do that with her." Martin stated as though stating a scientific fact.

Naru's teeth gritted even more at the stating of Genes name. Mai's angered comment came back to him when his father had said this. Mai was, indeed correct, He did try to do everything on his own. Naru knew though that Mai did not intend for him to think that it was because of him that Gene died, she had just been angered and had placed the two different topics together. She had, although she wasn't intending to, been inadvertently correct in stating that he did do everything on his own, and he would pay for it if he continued to.

"Fine, you can come if you want though I am not asking you to."

The SPR team all sighed and began to follow after the teenager they had been walking for ten minutes in complete silence when a thought crossed everyone's mind. It was Takigawa who decided to ask the question."

"Um… Naru… where is it that we are going exactly. Do you even have a clue as to where Mai could possibly be?"

Naru stopped in his tracks causing the rest of SPR who had been following him to almost run into him.

"Ms. Hara, Do you remember what you told me while in the car?"

Masako was surprised that Naru had directed to conversation towards her..

"Yes, I said that there was an unusual amount of spirits but…" Masako cut off, she was not sure where this was going

"Well then, do you sense anything?" Naru asked.

As soon as he asked it a deep silence fell across the team.

"Please… tell me… that you were not just walking blindly through this forest waiting for Masako to say something… especially when you did not tell her what you wanted…" Takigawa asked menacingly.

Again a silence fell across the team.

Luella put her hand up to her forehead and shook it back and forth in resignation… She could not believe that this was the boy she had raised.

"WHY YOU!" Takigawa yelled lifting his arm in order to punch the conceded boy in the face.

Before Takigawa could do any damage, both Lin and Martin grabbed onto the monk in order to stop his advancing arm.

"WHY…WHY NARU… WHY DO YOU DO THIS?" Takigawa yelled, his voice cracking in anger.

Naru did not answer for a while, staying quite, though when he finally spoke, he turned to look at the monk. His eyes were showing emotion that no one had ever seen before and when he spoke it was in a quite tone, "I have a hunch as to where she could be… but that is all it is, a hunch… I was hoping that Ms. Hara would notice a change in the spirit presence of the forest so that I could confirm it. Now," Naru turned back to Masako who was staring at his blue eyes. Naru's eyes had changed, it was a change that only Mai could bring, "Please, tell me if you sense anything different."

If the group had not been silent before, they defiantly were now… 'Did Naru really say 'please'?'

"Yes…" Masako's voice broke. She was not used to being directly stared at by the young man, "Yes… I do feel a change in the forest, all the spirits I told you about earlier seem to be heading towards the middle. Its strange, even though Mai said that there was a demon, I can't sense it… the only thing I can sense is the small spirits… the spirits of those who died in Hosei Point, there are so many children with them though… Its sad… " Masako finished her explanation with a hand up to her mouth. Even though she was covering her quivering mouth, it was quite obvious that she was crying due to the lone tear falling down her cheek.

"well there you have it… you now know where were heading." Naru said turning away from the group and heading off.

Martin sighed exasperated, "Is this what you had to deal with for the past couple of years Lin?"

Lin just nodded then took off following Naru.

The surrounding trees seemed to close in around them leaving only a small pathway to follow.

Takigawa looked around nervously not realizing that he was about to run into the Miko who was also looking around but more in an amazed way.

"OUCH!, DANG IT YOU STUPID MONK…WATCH WHERE YOUR GOING!" Ayako yelled out when the collision had finally occurred.

"Sorry, sorry…" Takigawa stated, not wanting to cause a fight in the middle of a dark forest let alone that Ayako's eyes were still puffy from the tears..

Ayako looked taken aback by the lack of a fight but brushed it aside. "These tree's really are amazing though." Ayako stated in an awed tone of voice while wiping away the stray tears.

"Ah, that's right, earlier while setting up the camera's, you did mention that the tree's did seem to be perfect." Takigawa said while inching his way closer to the Miko.

"Would you PLEASE stop encroaching upon my space… I swear… it seems as though your afraid of the forest…" Ayako stated in a matter of fact manner.

"Scared…. No way… there is no way I am scared…. I just want to make sure you don't get hurt by anything. Don't want you to break a nail…" Takigawa smirked, trying to act cool.

"WHY YOU… I AM NOT THAT MATERIALISTIC….."

Ayako was broken off by Naru's annoyed voice.

"when I said you could come, it did not mean that you could come and make a racket."

Ayako glared at the quickly moving dark clad boy then sighed in resignation.

"Yes, Idiot Monk, as I have said before, the forest is un naturally pure."

"Ah… so I see that you will actually be of some use this time…"

The resounding smack stopped the Monk from destroying any integrity that Ayako had left.

"OKAY, OKAY! Anyways, how can the tree's be pure if there is so much evil going on around it. You'd think that the tree's would become polluted." Monk asked, while still rubbing his head. Even though he wanted to find Mai as quickly as possible, he was still glad to see that Ayako had stopped crying.

"Look idiot monk, I don't know whats going on, all I know is that we should be happy that it is not polluted, I could be of a lot of use."

"Ah, yes, I have heard from Noll about your ways with the spirits of the tree's…" Martin caught up to the pair of SPR members. Luella who had been walking along with her husband also kept pace with him.

"Though isn't it true that once you use your 'talent' you won't be able to use it for a while?" Luella continued for her husband

"Yes, that is true… which is why I don't use it all the time…" Ayako glared at the guitarist Monk and flicked his forehead with her painted fingernails.

Luella chuckled slightly at the pair.

Masako with her hand up at her mouth was trudging behind the rest of the group. She did not feel like herself whenever Mai was not around, nor did she actually feel like trying to get on Naru's good side. She was starting to really see that Naru had finally understood his feelings for Mai which made Masako jealous but also strangely, a little happy. 'If Mai does not come back from this, I'm haunting her ghost…' Masako thought.

"We're here." Came Lin's voice from in front of the group.

In front of the group stood a dark foreboding two story building… truth be told, the building could not even be considered a building as it had lost most of its roof to plant growth along with the fact that it seemed that one of the trees seemed to of taken refuge inside of the building, growing straight out of the roof top.

"Um, Ayako, I'm not completely sure about this, but with the amount of time that this building should have been standing, I don't think it should be possible for this amount of tree growth…" Takigawa said mouth hanging open.

Ayako just nodded..

"That is, scientifically speaking, the correct hypothesis…" Martin said also staring at the building.

"All I can say is that the tree's must realize that this area has become polluted and so they are trying to unpolluted it." Ayako said in an amazed voice

"Wait, they can do that?" Takigawa asked amazed though was quickly doubled down on his knees as Ayako had punched him in the stomach.

Masako with her hand up towards her mouth spoke exactly what it was that Naru had wanted to hear, though with the way things were looking, he was not sure that he actually wanted it that way.

"Mai's here…" Masako trembled as she said it, "Naru, what I told you in the car, this is where it is all coming from. This building has high psychic residue attached to it. To tell you the truth, with someone like Mai…."

"I know… you don't have to tell me… Lets go" Naru knew exactly what Masako was about to say. Mai was a latent psychic, being in a place with so much negative power, let alone, so much psychic residue, Mai could find herself in more trouble than ever before. This was not how Naru had planned on things going. How could he be so wrong…

* * *

_**A/N**: _duh duh duuuuuuuh! Now we reach the climax of the story. The action… hmm… I think…

_**JT:** Forward to the Next chapter (strikes pose with one knee on the ground and arm pointing towards unknown direction)_

_**Naru:** Walks on as though he did not just see JT do that._


	15. Chapter 13 The Haunting

**A/N: ****This chapter is dedicated to my brother, whom has never seen, read or had anything to do with Ghost Hunt… He helped me get over my writers block by letting me bounce idea's off him. :D **

_I hope this is a good chapter. it did not turn out the way I was planning it. Again, if there are any questions, just ask. if you have any suggestions, do tell, if you want to fly like a bird... well... i can't help you with that... _

**I do not own ghost hunt**

**Chapter Thirteen **

He could see the smoke from the fire rising slowly into the air from where he stood in the run down building. It would not be long before the SPR team arrived for their young co-worker. And along with the members of SPR, Oliver Davis, would arrive as well.

Mayor Tsubasa grinned at the idea of the meeting that he had been waiting for, for so long. He remembered his first meeting with the brat. It was Oliver's brother Eugene that Mayor Tsubasa had first met. Eugene had come to him demanding to know what had happened to Ayden. Of course, Mayor Tsubasa never told him. In fact, at that point in time, Mayor Tsubasa was sure that the demon had already finished the kid off. Looking at Eugene though, Mayor Tsubasa had the feeling that if he did not get rid of the kid, he would find himself in more trouble than having a demon possessing you already brought. He was right, Eugene had gone to all of the town's members and began telling them 'stories' about their mayor. Luckily, none of the town members believed, but when things progressively got worse, the rumors started. Mayor Tsubasa had ended up in the media which he had to relentlessly chase down and make sure nothing got out. Sadly for Tsubasa Hotaru though, Eugene Davis was killed far before Tsubasa Hotaru or the demon could get to him.

Tsubasa Hotaru turned away from looking out the broken window of his run down school. He remembered the day that he had built the building, and such a grand building it had been. He had begun building it long before his daughter, Airi, had died. Before everything in his life had turned to such devastation. In fact, it was long before he ever came across Airi. The building was never meant for what it had been used for. In fact, he had been planning on making a normal school for children to come to. He had had plans to become the principle of the school. He had not always dreamed of becoming the mayor. When he saw the land though, something just called him to it. Soon, he was elected into office. His dreams of starting the school was gone.

It was in Hosei Point where he met Kaji and her family. It was also where he learned about Airi. He wanted to save Airi… that's what he told himself… he wanted to save her from the life that she would have lived if she was with those idiot parents of hers. So, he had them disposed of. Well, he would not say disposed of, its not like he had told the one who he hired what was to be done. He just said that he wanted the daughter of Kaji and Takeo. Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru had watched Kaji grow up. He knew how beautiful she was. If he had his way, he would have ended up with her. Her father denied Tsubasa Hotaru which was a mistake. When Tsubasa Hotaru wanted something, he got it. He ended up marrying the other women who was, by law, his wife. She could not produce him any children. Mayor Tsubasa wanted children. It was only then, that he heard in passing, that Kaji, who was to be married to Jun, had become pregnant with another's child. Of coarse, it was just a rumor, but even so, Mayor Tsubasa knew that it was more than that. Mayor Tsubasa offered that he would take the baby out of Jun's hands. So as it not to become a scandal in Jun's family. And so, Kaji and Takeo died, and Airi was given to Tsubasa Hotaru and his wife.

Mayor Tsubasa lived his life for Airi, once she 'died' though, he was filled with hatred. All he wanted to do was to destroy all those who had to do with _his_ daughters death. He was given that chance when the demon found him. All the evil that Tsubasa Hotaru had done in his life had finally come back to bite him. Once the demon gave him the option, he had no other choice but to follow it.

The demon promised him… it promised him that all his pain would disappear. That all those who had to do with his daughters death would pay. It was not like the Mayor did not understand that the demon would be gaining something from his deal. In fact, he pretty much expected it to be part of the deal if Mayor Tsubasa had been the demon, he would have expected the same back. And so… that was when the deal was made. The night that he burned his own house down… the night that his wife and daughter were both consumed by the fire he started. He did not consider himself to be the murderer of his daughter Airi though. Airi, to him, died when she had been touched by the juvenile delinquents. Airi was no longer the girl he wanted.

Mayor Tsubasa stood up and walked away from the window to look at the small body laying in the corner of the room. For a moment, he swore that the body looked like his Airi, but the light changed and he realized that it was not his daughter. He walked closer to the small figure in order to see if she was still breathing.

It was uncommon for the demon not to be possessing him. The demon had left for a while… which was very unusual for it to do. Mayor Tsubasa could feel that he was weaker when it was gone. Like he had become much, much, older in a span of a few seconds. He smiled wearily as he noticed that the girl was indeed still alive. He was not sure why it was that the demon had decided not to just kill the girl. For some reason, he was relieved to see that the girl was not dead. It was when he knelt down to move a piece of hair away from her face that he felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up.

"I told you to watch for the group…" an eerie voice crackled through the run down building.

"I w-was… I-I was J-Just checking u-up on the g-g-girl" Mayor Tsubasa said back worriedly. He did not want the demon to punish him. It hurt horribly when the demon got in one of its moods.

No reply was given back to Mayor Tsubasa by the demon. The Mayor sighed as he felt that the demon, had again left the building. Most likely to go and rejuvenate its energy with the new arrivals that the mayor had brought for its disposal. It was not like all the towns people had actually gotten away from the fire, in fact, quite a few of them had fallen victim to the mayor and demons rampage.

A sound from the corner of the room caught his attention though. The girl was waking up. He had hoped that the SPR team would have arrived before the girl awoke. He obviously was not going to get his wish.

Mai coughed. Her head was pounding and her throat felt as though it had turned to sandpaper. She tried to open her eyes but could feel them sting. The memory of what had happened before she arrived to where she was now came flooding back to her.

'_Mai cried out when she felt something grab hold of her leg. She watched as the firefighter, Shou, just sat in place with a crying Misuki. Part of her wished that Shou could stop whatever it was that was taking her but she knew that he would not be able to. Mai needed him to tell Naru about the demon. Mai sobbed as her back was scratched by the forest branches and rocks. It was a certain rock that had finally connected with her head that brought the darkness that she had grown all to familiar with to her. _

"Crap, Naru's going to kill me…" She thought as she continued to lay with her eyes closed from the sun that was now shinning brightly through the window.

A voice inside her head replied, "As long as you don't die before he arrives."

Mai was not sure why she knew that Naru would come for her. Maybe it was because of the many cases in which he had been the one to save her from danger. Why was that though. There were many others in the SPR group. Why was it that the one to come and save her the most was Naru. Mai blushed as the thought crossed her mind.

"Cause he loves you…" Mai shook her head back and forth only causing herself to become dizzy with the action

"IF YOU KEEP MOVING AROUND, I'LL HAVE TO KNOCK YOU BACK OUT!" Came a deep, dark voice from somewhere in front of her. It was then that Mai decided that it would be best to open her eyes and find out who was with her. The voice sounded so familiar.

The light hurt when she first began to open them but slowly the throbbing stopped long enough for her to get used to it.

"Mayor Tsubasa…" Mai gasped out. Well, its not like she was surprised, she did in fact know what had happened in Hosei Point.

"Yes, your quite right, I am Mayor Tsubasa, but I bet you know my real name isn't that correct?" Tsubasa Hotaru's voice cracked out while he was still watching the woods outside for any movement.

"Mr. Hosei… Why… Why did you kill Airi?" Mai held her forehead as it spun violently.

Mr. Hosei(mayor Tsubasa) stood up quickly knocking over the chair he had been sitting on. "I DID NOT KILL MY DAUGHTER! THOSE DEGENERATE TEENAGERS DID!"

Mai closed her head and tried to stand up, failing when she fell back on her behind.

"No, you killed her Mr. Hosei. She may have been touched by those degenerate teenagers as you call them, but she was not dead. She died in the fire. Though you like to tell yourself otherwise." Mai could feel her head pounding over and over again, setting a pulse for the conversation she had now started with the Mayor of Hosei Point.

"NO! NO!" Mr. Hosei was now pacing back and forth like a deranged caged tiger. He stopped his pacing and turned to face Mai head on, "NO!" he pointed a finger at her, " I did not kill my daughter."

"Mr. Hosei, she was not your daughter to begin with, you took her, you took her from her parents who would have loved her, who would have kept her safe." Mai was trying to buy time for Naru to arrive. He was hoping that he would arrive soon. If she kept up her arguments, Mayor Tsubasa/Hosei, would kill her.

"NO, I SAVED HER… THOSE PEOPLE WERE NOT CAPABLE OF RAISING HER… ONLY I COULD… ONLY I COULD!" Mr. Hosei walked forewords as though he was going to strangle Mai. Luckily, a sound came from the forest that caused Mr. Hosei to stop in his tracks, "they're here…"

Mai was surprised at how fast the Mayor could switch from complete insanity to complete and utter calm.

Mai shuddered as she began to feel a chill pass through the room. A laughter echoed throughout the air causing Mai to cover her ear's. The echoing of the laughter was too loud. It vibrated in her ears causing the pounding that was only a steady bump….bump… bump… to become a fast paced Bump..Bump…Bump.

Mr. Hosei who had been hunched over suddenly stood up straight as the demon re-entered Mr. Hosei. The laughter that had been echoing around the room was now finding its way out of Mr. Hosei's mouth. The sound was spine tingling

"I'm so pleased to meet you again, it would have been a sin not to meet you. Ms. Mai, I hope you've been comfortable, I know I have. And now, I'll be able to finish my collection, just so little more to go, I believe that your friends plus yourself would do quite well." the demon spoke so calmly through Mr. Hosei's mouth. As though it was the most normal thing to do to talk about collecting people as though they were trophy's.

"You won't get away with this you know." Mai stated as calmly as her quivering voice would allow her.

"OH, I WON'T WILL I? well we will have to see about that now won't we." the demon walked over to Mai grabbing her by the hair and dragging her as much as walking her out of the room he had held her in.

Naru was not going to wait for the team to marvel at the building standing in front of them. All he had on his mind was Mai's safety. He needed to save her. He needed to save her before it was to late for him to tell her that he loved her. He was an idiot. Gene was right. He had waited too long to tell Mai his feelings and now she had the possibility of dying before he could do so.

He crossed the front of the building's lawn as quickly as he could which he found difficult due to the fact that many of the tree's had their roots sticking up in many odd places.

"Naru, we need to think things through…" came Lin's voice.

"Tell the priestess to start preparing then." Naru called back.

"WAIT, PRIESTESS… FIRST OF ALL, I HAVE A NAME, SECOND OF ALL…wait… you want me to prepare?" Ayako began but then startled by the meaning of the second item that she had said, she had to pause in her irate argument.

"I believe that's what I said." Naru growled out. It was clear now to the rest of the group that his feelings were finally starting to show since he had yelled it out more than actually just stating it.

Naru made his way to the front door of the old school house and through the front door, realizing too late that once he entered, the door would slam shut behind him keeping the rest of SPR out.

"AND SO, THE MAIN EVENT IS TO BEGIN!" came the creepy voice of the demon.

Naru glared at the man who now stood in front of him holding onto Mai's hair. Mayor Tsubasa Hotaru, was holding onto HIS Mai. Naru could feel anger building in his stomach when he noticed the pained look plastered across Mai's face. She let out a hiss as the demon pulled on her hair causing her scalp to burn.

"MAI!" Naru growled out

A tear ran down Mai's face, "NO, NARU, DON'T COME NEAR… IT'S A DEMON… THE MAYOR IS BEING POSSESED BY A DEMON!"

Naru clenched his fist. He did not care if it was the bloody possessed mayor. All he cared about was that the so called bloody possessed mayor was hurting his Mai.

"LET-HER-GO! Naru growled out pacing each and every word as he said them.

"You'll have to come get her then." the demon cocked its head as though taunting Naru to show him what he could do. The demon then pulled a sharp object out of Mr. Hosei's pocket pressing it up against Mai's neck. The pressure drew a small droplet of blood.

The rubble that had collected around them began to shake as Naru began to lose control at seeing the blood and hearing Mai whimper at the feeling of metal against her skin.

"NO… NARU… PLEASE… DON'T DO IT… YOU'LL DIE!" Mai sobbed out now realizing what it was that Naru was planning to do. She was scared, not only at the fact that she was reliving the feeling of metal being placed against her skin but also because she knew what would happen if Naru used his PK.

Just as Naru was about to lose total control, Lin made it through the door in time to stop the young man from doing the worst possible idea.

Lin was tired. He had flown all the way to china to England only to meet the Davis's and their son. After Gene died, he was given the task of watching the most annoying, cocky, narcissistic, brat of a boy that ever lived. Now after all the years that Lin had spent with said annoying, cocky, narcissistic, brat of a boy, he felt that he deserved just a little respect. Sadly, he was not going to get it. So, instead, he had to take matters into his own hands. He whistled sending his shiki against the young boy. Shiki, were not only used for defeating spirits. They were also great at controlling unwanted power bursts. They loved the taste of the PK. And now, with the PK that Naru was exerting, they were enjoying a lovely feast. (A/N: I don't believe that Shiki can really do this in the actual story but it was either this or have Lin slap Naru. As much as Naru deserves to be slapped, right now is not the time.) All the while, the demon watched laughing its head off as the surrounding rubble found its place back on the ground. Mai still had tears running down her face as she watched gladly as Lin stopped Naru from doing what he had been planning.

"MR. HOSEI!" Mai cried out.

It was only slightly noticeable as Mr. Hosei's body twitched towards Mai's call.

"It was not the boys fault for what happened to your daughter." Mai continued.

The demon stopped its maniacal laugh as it realized what Mai was trying to do.

"The demon caused your daughter to be defiled. Its all the demon's fault."

Mr. Hosei, although he had no control, he was able to at least hear what Mai was saying. Unluckily for the demon, since it had been possessing Mr. Hosei for so long, Mr. Hosei was able to figure things out based on the demon's memory. One such memory that flew before Mr. Hosei's eyes was the demon's terrible eyes staring down at Airi as she was being attacked.

"NO!" Mr. Hosei had realized all to suddenly what had occurred.

The demon seemed to begin to tremble slightly as the possession began to fail.

"NO! NOO! I WON'T ALLOW THIS TOO HAPPEN… YOUR GOING TO DIE… YOUR ALL GOING TO DIE.!" the demon screamed out as it began to feel Mr. Hosei start to fight against its binds.

The demon was too powerful even though Mr. Hosei was now fighting against the demon, the demon still had power over the surrounding building. The Building began to collapse on itself.

"EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE!" Martin Davis yelled out grabbing onto as many members as he could.

Naru struggled out of Lin's grip and ran over to where Mai had collapsed after the demon had let go of her. He pulled her up off the ground and began to run towards the door.

Outside, Ayako had finished getting ready with her cleansing she had never before done a cleaning with such pure tree's.

"They tell me to prepare… of course I'll prepare. I'll even expect that old monk to praise me for my accomplishments." Ayako began the chant. The bells rang right as the house began to collapse. If Ayako was not knowledgeable about how many spirits were involved with the case, she knew now. So many spirits were being cleansed right before her eyes. The final bell tolled right as Lin made his way out of the house. As the sound of the bell ended, the house had collapsed. Ayako stood up after finishing the cleansing and walked over towards the group that was now standing stock still in front of the broken down house.

"What happened?" Ayako asked then noticing who was missing she asked the question she dreaded most, "Where is Mai and Naru?"

Luella let out a sob as Martin and Lin ran forward trying to dig their friends out of the rubble.

**A/N:**

S_o, I don't think this is at all how I planned for things to go. But I can say this… its not over. The story that is. I'm not to familiar with Ayako's actual cleansing process. So when you get to that part, you can just imagine it happening the way it is supposed to happen._

_ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!_


	16. Chapter 14 The Hospital

_**A/N:**__ so, here is the next chapter. I tried my best to write it as fast as I could but alas, my computer that I had been writing on has died…again… anyways, here is chapter Fourteen. Hopefully it turns out well. This chapter could be seen as being out of character. But in all actuality, if Naru was ever to end up with Mai… some of his emotions would have to change. It's not like he could completely stay a cold and heartless narcissist. Anyways… sorry if you think it's too out of character._

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT.**

_Man… the keyboard I'm typing with is loud._

_This chapter is dedicated to SnowSisters_

_Just so you know, I did try and get this chapter uploaded as quickly as possible. In fact, it would have been uploaded yesterday if my computer did not die on me again. So thus, due to the fact of mechanical failure, I was not able to post it until tonight… I'm so sorry about the inconvienence._

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

The Shifting of wood and the immense pressure that was placed upon him was the first thing that Naru noticed. He tried to move but found that he could not.

"MAI!" suddenly his thoughts flew back to the girl he had run to protect.

Images of what had just happened flew before his eyes.

"_MAI," Naru yelled out. If he had had the time to actually realize what it was that he had just said, he would have realized that his voice sounded so much different then it normally would._

_Mai was kneeling on the ground not able to move on her own due to the large cut she had managed to get on her knee after being dropped to the ground so suddenly._

"_Mai, come on, we need to get out of here!" Naru yelled again this time grabbing her hand and pulling her up._

_Naru watched as Lin ran out the door trying to avoid being hit by the pillars that were now falling around them._

_They had almost reached the door when Mr. Hosei, still possessed by the demon grabbed onto Mai's ankle._

"_I TOLD YOU… YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!" The demon choked out. _

_Mai screamed trying to pull her leg out of the demon's grip. _

_Naru cursed as he saw a pillar fall in front of the door. "What is taking Ayako so long? She should have finished the cleansing." a horrible thought then occurred to the young man… 'This is a demon we are talking about… what if it does not work?' _

_The demon let out one last laugh before Mr. Hosei finally gained control of himself._

_The building completely collapsed. Before it could do any damage to Mai, Naru wrapped his arms around her in order to protect her from the debris. _

That was the last thing he remembered before he re awoke to the building sitting on top of them.

"MAI, ARE YOU OKAY!" he growled out through his teeth. The back of his head hurt indicating that he had sustained a hit to said spot.

Mai did not answer but managed to moan out a reply.

"Mai… thank god you're okay…" Naru only then realized the position that they were in now, with him on top of her staring face to face….

Naru was glad that they were buried now. If they weren't, he was not sure that his cold emotionless face would be so cold now.

Naru felt around him and realized that if he moved to the right some, he would be able to move off of Mai in order to check her out better.

Very carefully, he moved sideways trying not to knock any of the debris out of place. Once he had fully moved he began doing a full body check to see if Mai was okay. He winced noticing that for the second time, her arm had been pulled out of its socket. He was quite sure that it would have some broken bones as well to add to the popped socket.

The cut that the demon had given to Mai's neck was still bleeding but only slightly seeing as it was not deep enough to prove too much damage.

What worried Naru the most though was that Mai was deathly pale and her breathing seemed to have become rather erratic.

"I'll get you out of here Mai… I promise… I will somehow get you out…" Naru whispered under his breath.

Naru slowed his breathing down in order to hear what was going on around him. His heart was overly loud which ad times, he wished he could just shut it up. Though he knew that if he did that, he would not be able to save Mai.

He finally heard what he had been listening for…

"LIN!" Naru called the one name that he knew could save them. "WE'RE OVER HERE!"

It did not take long for Lin to dig both Naru and Mai out. In fact, he was also able to dig out the unconscious Mayor as well. Naru, who was able to walk out on his own, was quickly enveloped by his sobbing mother.

"O-O-Oh O-O-Oliver You ha-had m-m-me so w-w-w-worried." Luella had her head placed on Naru's shoulder.

"Mom, my shirt is not a tissue… we need to get Mai to the hospital now." Luella glared at Naru as she moved back and looked over towards where Mai was being carried by Monk.

"Martin… go get the car… meet us over at the burned down house near the forest edge. And please. Be quick about it." Martin nodded realizing that his wife would not be pleased if he dilly-dallied.

Naru glared over at the Monk, who was not realizing that if he was not careful with Mai that he would be on the next plane to the spirit world.

Takigawa feigned being hurt.

"Naru, how could you ever expect me not to take care of my little Mai? She's like a daughter to me." Takigawa said with a hurt voice.

Naru did not say anything but made sure to keep close to Mai as they were walking back.

Both Ayako and Lin were trying their best to carry the Mayor back though it was not without his feet dragging along the forest ground.

After twenty minutes of walking, the group finally made it back to the burned down house. The smoke had finally cooled down and the sun was setting behind the trees of the forest. Naru walked over to where Takigawa was holding Mai and grabbed her from him. He then climbed into the car that his father had waiting for them bringing Mai along with him. By now, the sweat that was beading upon Mai's forehead was clearly visible.

Lin and Ayako forced Mr. Hosei into the car as quick as they could. Lin got into the passenger seat of the car and closed the door.

"We will stay here and wait for your call." Luella said, reaching through the drivers side window in order to hug her husband good bye.

"Noll, you better keep Mai safe. If I hear anything from anyone stating that you have done different, I'll disown you."

Naru let a small smile cross his face at his mothers warning.

"Well, if you did that, you would never have any grandchildren."

Before Luella could begin to understand what it was that Naru had just said, Martin took off driving the car down the road and out of the town, both him and Lin with a wide grin on their faces.

Martin, Lin, Naru, Mai, and the Mayor, all arrived at the hospital at night fall. the moon was now high in the sky shinning its bright light down onto the cars driving quickly by. No one in those cars knew what it was that the team had just been through. And by any luck, they never would.

Martin quickly ran into the hospital calling for the nurse station to send out a wheelchair and a stretcher.

A group of men and woman in doctor's coats came rushing out, one group grabbing the unconscious Mayor and the other group grabbing the clearly sick Mai.

Naru rushed into the hospital intent on following Mai into the back no matter what anyone said.

Although, this idea was quickly pulled away from him as Lin grabbed onto his forearm. Naru watched as the doctors walked through the double doors and to the back medical room.

Naru turned around quickly to protest but when he saw the look on Lin's face, he realized that he had no choice. Lin would keep him from Mai if it was the last thing he did.

Suddenly a great overwhelming feeling over came Naru. It felt like all the stress of the world had been applied to his shoulders. 'What would happen to Mai?'

The thought that had been picking its way to the forefront of his mind quickly made its presence known.

Naru sat down on a chair with a big huff. Lin watched as the young teen placed his head in his hands and stayed that way. Martin, who had just come back from signing in at the front desk, also noticed the predicament that his son was now in. It was also him who walked up to the young man and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure that you've realized this now, but you can't do everything on your own. This also means that you can't go handling everything on your own. Now, ever sense Gene died…" Martin paused at the look that crossed his son's face but continued, "There is something that I've never told you. When Luella and I came to adopt you… in all honesty, we weren't planning on coming back with two children. We first met Gene. We were never told that their were two of you but when we told Gene we told him that we were planning on adopting him." again Martin paused, "Do you know what he told us when we said that?"

Naru was now watching his fathers face with an intense gaze.

"He told us to take you instead. That he felt that you deserved more than him. Gene would have done anything to make you happy. You do realize that don't you. If you keep taking things on your own, not only will you yourself not be happy, but do you really think that Gene would be happy?"

Naru looked down at his hands.

Naru had known that Gene did a lot of stuff for him. In fact, it was quite impossible not to notice what Gene did for Naru. Whenever Naru asked Gene about it though, Gene tended to push it aside as though there was nothing to worry about. Not once in Naru's life could he remember ever doing the same amount of stuff for Gene. Sure, every now and then he would help him out with homework seeing that Naru was the smartest of the twins but still… Naru could not figure out if he ever tried to personally make Gene happy.

'Gene, you take care of Mai when she's dreaming… thank you so much…" Naru thought to himself, hoping that Gene, in someway could hear him, "Now it's my turn to make you happy, though… I'm quite sure that everyone would be surprised if I just suddenly changed to being your happy go lucky self… I believe that I can at least ask for help once in a while.'

Martin was done with his talk, he was not quite sure if he would actually get a response from his son, let alone, he did not completely know what type of response he was expecting to get from his son.

Naru nodded and let a very small smile trace his face.

It was not often that Martin ever saw his son smile, so seeing him smile again was defiantly a gift without price

"Um… excuse me… but… is there anyone here for Ms. Mai Tanniyama?" a young female nurse stood in front both Naru and Martin as though she had just seen something she was not supposed to. She also, like many young women, seemed flustered at the sight of Naru.

"Yes, I'm her boss… this is my father, and this is my assistant." Naru replied pointing first at Martin then to Lin.

"Well, we were able to stabilize her, but… we don't have conclusive evidence to state what is wrong with her…" the woman paused to look at her clipboard, "What we do know is that she has sustained injury to her shoulder. There is severe nerve damage along with muscle damage. She also has quite a few cuts, along with some old ones…" the girl paused and looked up… "um, as required by law… I'm supposed to ask where the parents are… not that we are into this business… but Ms. Mai seems to have quite an unusual amount of injuries, both past and new, for a girl her age."

"I'll have to disagree with you if you believe that Mai has been abused by family. First off, she is an orphan. Second of all, the type of business we are in is quite dangerous." Martin spoke up. He could tell that if Naru spoke, he would put the young woman down.

The woman looked a little startled at the glare she was receiving but pushed it to the back of her mind.

"Anyways, as I've said, the findings are inconclusive seeing that the injuries she does have should not lead to a coma…" The young doctor was interrupted again…

"Just to make sure that we are on the same track… are you saying that Ms. Tanniyama, that Mai… is in a coma?" it was Lin who asked this question.

Naru looked as though the answer that would come next would completely destroy him.

The nurse put the clipboard that she had in her hands under her arms and replied, "Yes, she is in a medically induced comma so that we can find out what is wrong with her without any more injuries occurring."

The nurse then bowed one last time before walking away. It was clear to her that the young boy that she had felt an attachment too… mostly for his looks though… was already taken. His facial features looked completely tired and when she had said that the patient was in a coma, he looked as though the world had just collapsed on top of him.

It was odd… for some reason; the nurse felt that the boy was not prone to show such emotions on his face. She sighed. 'Guess love can do that to you…. Ahhh… when will I ever find love.' She headed towards an elevator only to come across the new male nurse that had begun to work their.

"Ah… hello… um… which floor?" the man asked.

The female nurse blushed and replied with… "Whichever floor you're on…" then as if realizing what she had just said, she began to apologize fiercely over and over again.

(Just a side story… hmm. Wonder if anything will happen with the two)

Naru sat down again. His face, if possible looked even paler than before.

Martin was surprised at the emotions that his son was now showing. He knew that one day; Oliver would finally wake up from his dark stupor. Emotions of grief could only last for so long… he only hoped that Mai being in this condition would not send him back into his dark corridors.

"Naru… she will be alright… you know that she always pulls through these things." Lin stated quietly. He was not used to having a computer on him… his hands twitched every time he looked at the receptionist area. The receptionist had been typing away constantly.

"But… she should not have to go through this… she…" Naru was interrupted.

"Um… are you the ones who brought the Mayor of Hosei Point in?" this time it was the head doctor.

"Yes…" Naru replied, though with a hesitating tone…

"Well… I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do for him. He's still alive so… well… he said that he wanted to speak to you…"

Naru stood up and followed the doctor. He had decided that if the mayor was going to die… it would be by his hands.

The room was lightly lighted. Naru had walked in as stoic and quietly as ever before. In front of him sat a single bed. And on that single bed laid the one person that Naru never wanted to have seen again. Mr. Hose, more commonly known as Mayor Tsubasa, was wrapped tightly up in a clean white bed sheet. Naru wondered if he killed the mayor, if anyone would realize it seeing as he was already dieing.

"Ah… I was hoping you would come…" the soft whisper of the dying man's voice came from the bed.

It was strange hearing Mr. Hosei's pattern of speech, seeing as Mayor Tsubasa was quicker tongued and all. Mr. Hosei was more calm and serious. As though he knew what it meant to be a man who had had everything then lost it all in one single day.

"I'd like for you to hurry and get this over with… I've got far more important things to do than to listen to a man such as yourself." Naru's patients were wearing thin. He was wondering if the Mayor really did intend to argue with him till death.

"I wanted to tell you something important…" Mr. Hosei began, though was interrupted by a wheezing fit.

Naru waited, though he had half the mind just to walk out of the doors.

"I wanted to tell you… the demon has not been destroyed… it is still around… and I'm afraid that it might… go after Mai…" The Mayor finished relaying his warning and quickly fell into a deep sleep. A sleep in which he would probably never awake from.

When the Mayor's hand fell from his chest, Naru realized that the Mayor had been clasping something in his hand.

A sense of dread filled Naru as he realized what it was. He grabbed the object and quickly found his way to Lin.

Lin was sitting in the waiting room with Martin sitting besides him on the phone.

"Father, tell mother to bring the rest of SPR here. We have an emergency. Lin, I need you to figure out how to destroy this thing. The demon is still here. In fact, I believe that it may be the reason for why Mai is in a coma. Mai could possibly be possessed by the demon itself." Naru said all of this quickly before running through the double doors that had kept him away from his Mai.

The doctors and Nurses who were positioned anywhere's near the door quickly tried to stop him from running down the hall, unsuccessfully though.

Naru finally made it to the room that had Mai's name posted on the door. Breaking through the door, his worst nightmare was confirmed, Mai was not in the room.

Naru quickly ran out of the room, much to the dismay of the doctors who had thought that they had finally caught the young man. Lin, who had caught up with Naru was beyond worried.

"Naru, you do realize what this is right?" Lin asked out of breath.

"Of course I know what it is, it's the thing that has got Mai in so much trouble, and the only reason for why we can't get rid of the demon. It's the connection between the demon and the real world. Without it, the demon would be sucked back to wherever it came from in the first place." Naru was still racing down the hallways as quickly as he could in order to figure out where Mai had disappeared to.

"What I want to know, is how it got here, and how can we destroy it? Sadly, we don't have much time to actually figure this out so…"

It was then that Naru's father appeared,

"Noll, she's on the roof..."

**A/N**: _So, here is the next chapter. Did you really think that it would be that easy to destroy the demon. Well, I think not… not only that but it is a very well known rule that when you have something evil lying dead in front of you, don't assume that it is dead._

_Sorry again for the cliff hanger. I actually like them though. It keeps me interested in writing the next chapter. _

_Hopefully this was as good as the last one was._

Ha-ha… I was checking the word count and saw characters…17172. I was like O.O but then I realized that that was not the word count. Thank goodness it was not, I don't think you guys would want to read 17,172 words in one chapter


	17. Chapter 15 Burning Flame

**A/N:** _You guys may not know this but you make me so happy with your replies. Especially the most resent ones. It is always nice to know that what you're writing has not been just a waste of time._

_This chapter is dedicated to Jade Starlight_

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT. I DO OWN BURNING FLAME'S STORY IDEA THOUGH.**

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

The night wind was blowing steadily over the hospital causing the hospitals helicopter that sat in place waiting to be flown to the next emergency call to have its propellers move slightly back and forth. Naru stood completely still where, just a few minutes before, he had exited through the hospitals door exiting onto the rooftop. Behind him stood the tall figure of Lin, who, like Naru, was standing stock still.

Lin knew from the moment he stepped out onto the roof that something was wrong. His Shiki, which had followed him to the roof, were now in frenzy. It was not normal for the Shiki to be so out of control. It was as if there was something on the roof that was affecting them. The feeling that they gave Lin was one of escape.

Naru, was the first to take a step forwards towards the figure that now stood in front of them standing dangerously close to the edge of the rooftop.

The moon which had finally found its way out of the clouds shined its light down to show that the figure was exactly who Naru feared it to be.

Mai's hair blew slightly to the left covering bits of her face but then falling down again to lie where it was just moments before. Her hospital gown also blew slightly back and forth teasing the ties that were holding it together on her back.

Naru stopped when Mai's eyes moved to look at where Naru was standing causing him to pause in his advancements.

It was clear now that Mai was not awake at all. This caused more worry for Naru cause that would mean that Mai would not be aware of what she was doing at all.

Naru did the only thing he could do. He called her name. "MAI!"

Mai opened her eyes to her cold surroundings. She could not remember how she got to where she was but knew that she had indeed gotten there. It was strange not to know how she made it to where she was standing now.

'Why'

Mai's thoughts echoed in her head, reverberating slightly throughout her mind.

She could feel a headache start to form in both the front and back of her head.

'Why am I here?' she thought again, this time getting a hold of the echoing thoughts that were causing the headache.

She looked at her surroundings to find that she was now in Kaji's rice fields. The mud that the rice patty's sat in seemed to be dream like in the way that their color seemed to change form. It was like a Van Gogh's painting with the many different waves of color.

'Why is it doing that?'

Mai could not get her mind around the idea that this could be a dream. It was as if something was blocking her from coming to a conclusion of what was happening.

A sound of laughter caught Mai's attention from behind her. Turning around, she noticed a group of kids laughing and playing together.

She suddenly found herself up on the hill that the children were playing on. Two boys and two girls held hands in a circle playing a game that involved them moving in a circle.

It reminded Mai so much of the game, 'ring around the rosy' the only difference was the words they were singing.

'Watch the demon creep, at the full moon's rising, blood fall, blood fall, everyone will die.'

Mai shuddered at the strange song. Why were they singing it like that? Those were not the correct words.

Mai could see a bright light forming behind the circle of children. It was only when the children began shouting each others names that she realized it was a full moon.

One girl pointed at a boy, "I'll take Orion"

Orion, pointed at the other girl and said, "I'll take Airi"

Airi pointed at the last boy and said, "I'll take Ayden"

Ayden pointed at the first girl who said that she would take Orion, and said, "And I'll take Kaji"

All together, they stared at Mai pointing at her,

"You will come with us, and we will all die…"

Mai screamed as she saw blood drip down each of the child's foreheads. She began to run as fast as she could away from the children who began playing their game again. Their song echoing through the rice patty fields. The tree that they had been playing under caught fire, sending its branches in a falling mess.

"THE DEMON IS CREEPING, THE FULL MOON HAS RISEN, BLOOD HAS FALLEN, BLOOD HAS FALLEN, AND EVERYONE WILL DIE"

Mai noticed the change in the lyrics and screamed even louder when she saw the dark shadow that was now following her in her haste to escape. The shadow was covering the entire land that it passed over. The children, who had fallen to the ground after their game, seemed to have their own light snuffed out. The fire which had finished its burning of the tree began burning the rice patty fields around it. The burning flame seemed to light the distant land while the foreground was cast in shadow.

Mai turned her head to look where it was she was running only to realize that she was no longer in the rice patty fields. She was now in a long dark hallway with doors on both sides of her. The hallway seemed to continue for ages, growing longer and longer with each stride she took. Looking behind her, she noticed that the shadow was no longer chasing her.

Slowing her pace, she finally made it to the end of the hallway. She reached for the handle without thinking of what could possibly be at the other side of it. Pulling on the handle, the door opened. In Mai went to be met with a long spiraling staircase. She began her climb, holding onto the railing that was there to support her.

It was when she got ten steps up that video clips began to play on either side of her. She felt as though she should stop climbing the steps in order to watch the clips but felt that her legs were continuing on with or without her consent.

The clips were that of the case she had been on with SPR. She watched as Mayor Tsubasa entered the SPR main office. She watched as they made their way onto the train to meet conductor Tillerman. She watched as they arrived at Hosei Point. It was when they arrived at Hosei Point that the clips seemed to change. She also noticed that each step she was taking was becoming larger and larger, She watched as both Takigawa and Ayako died while setting up the camera's, She watched as Masako died on her own in the forest, she watched as Martin died, falling after trying to save Mai from danger. She watched as each of the team members died before her eyes. Now, she could feel tears cascading down her face. She wanted to turn around and go back down the staircase. None of the team members would have died if she could just turn back. Sadly though, her feet were still moving without her consent. She was still heading for the door at the top of the staircase. Mai was afraid to see what was through that door now. She wanted nothing more than to turn around. She would jump over the staircase railings if she had too. She wanted nothing more than to get her-self away from the horrible clips that were playing before her.

Mai made it to the door, by now, blood was dripping down each of the clips screens. She reached forward and opened the door. Blood covering her hand when she touched the doorknob.

The first thing that Mai noticed when she opened her eyes was that she was now standing on top of a cliff. She could not figure out how she got there. Why was her mind doing this? Why was she forgetting so easily? Mai reached her hand up to her eyes and felt that she had been crying. When she pulled her hand away from her face though, she noticed that the tears were blood.

She backed away quickly; trying to figure out what it was that was going on. She only noticed now that there was a figure standing in front of her. Something told her that she knew who the figure was. It was dark though. She looked up at the sky which was swimming with dark colors. She could see the moon which was now a blood red color start to move its way out of the clouds. With the moving of the moon, she was able to see who it was that was standing in front of her now. It was Naru.

Mai cried for joy and ran forward about to grab a hold of the young teen in a deep hug. But when she got closer, she realized that Naru was covered in blood.

Mai screamed moving away from Naru's form.

Naru, blood covered and all, moved forward as though he was trying to stop her from doing something.

All Mai could notice now was that the dark shadow which had been chasing her was now shadowing Naru.

'Could Naru be the shadow?' Mai thought in horror.

The strange song that the children had been singing before now began playing again. This time, its words had changed again.

"The Demon has found you, the moon is alive, bleeding, bleeding, AND EVERYONE HAS DIED!"

Mai screamed as both Naru's blood covered body, and the black shadow threw them-selves at her.

Mai fell backwards off the cliff.

It was clear now that Mai was not awake at all. This caused more worry for Naru cause that would mean that Mai would not be aware of what she was doing at all.

Naru did the only thing he could do. He called her name, "MAI!"

Lin stepped forward before Naru could reach Mai, "Naru, she is not possessed, the demon is not in her, though I do know that the demon is here somewhere."

"Then how would you explain the predicament she is in right now?" Naru asked both exasperated and angered at the Chinese man who had stopped him from grabbing Mai.

"She is in the midst of a dream, and not the vision type of dream. It is likely though that the demon is controlling her dreams. Causing her to see what it wants her to see. What ever it is that Mai is seeing though has led her to this roof top." Lin said still looking at the young girl who was still staring at them with blank eyes.

"Then what do you suggest will be at the end of the dream? From what I can tell, Mai is going to fall off that edge if I don't get to her, which, if you are right that she is not able to tell where she is exactly at this moment, it will lead to her inevitable death." Naru growled out.

Lin did not reply to Naru's comment seeing as Mai had made a sudden movement.

"NARU!" Mai cried out moving quickly towards him.

Naru was about to grab onto Mai when she suddenly let out a terrified scream backing quickly away from Naru as though he was the black plague. Naru moved forwards now. He knew where this was going to end. Mai was going to fall backwards off the hospital's roof and towards the hard concrete ground below. Mai was now at the ledge. One more step would send her off.

Lin's voice called out bringing his attention to everything going on around him

"NOLL, THE DEMON IS BEHIND YOU!"

Everything happened fast. So fast that even if Naru wanted to actually think things through, he would not have had the time.

He had to depend on Lin now to figure out how to destroy the demon, cause at the very same time that the demon leapt for Naru, Naru leapt for Mai, who had finally taken that predicted step backwards into free space.

Everything became quite. At least for Naru it seemed too. Time seemed to slow down. He watched as Mai's face, as pale as ever before fell towards the earth bellow her. Naru followed her down the path she was heading grabbing for her wrist. It was like a dream. With Mai's hair moving slowly around her like it was licking the air that was blowing past her.

Time… how much time did they have left. Time sped up when Naru finally got a hold of Mai's wrist. It sped up even quicker as he was even able to grab a hold of the edge of the building. A great pain spread throughout Naru's body as time sped up fast enough for him to realize how hard he had plowed into the side of the hospital. He would have let go of Mai entirely if it was not for the fact that his body had gained the extra advantage of adrenaline. Naru was afraid though, that the adrenaline would not last and he would go plowing down to the earth below with Mai in his arms.

Back on the rooftop, Lin found himself and his Shiki in the fight of their lives. Lin's conscience was yelling at him for not going to help Naru. His instinct was telling him though that if he even dared to, he would become Miso soup… deep fried style.

Right as Lin was about to think, "WHERE THE HECK IS THE REST OF THE TEAM?" they burst through the hospital's top door.

Martin, leading the way, realized what Lin's predicament was. It was Luella though who realized where exactly her son had found a place to perch himself.

Takigawa and Ayako both burst their way out spouting their chants off at the very same moment. Masako walked quickly to the side of the building followed by Luella and one other person, who had found his way to the hospital just in time.

Yasuhara peered over the side to see Naru clenching his teeth at the pain of holding onto the building.

"Wow, boss, never knew you were the type to do such dangerous sports… and to bring our lovely Mai into it as well… Never knew you had it in you."

Naru would have spat a remark back but found it increasingly difficult to even breathe.

Yasuhara grabbed onto Naru's forearm and began to pull him up. Luella and Masako grabbed onto his underarm and shirt in order to help in the effort as well. Naru was having just as much difficult with actually holding onto Mai with the opposite pull that his mother and group members were applying to him.

Takigawa, Ayako, and Lin were still battling with the demon who found it-self being pushed backwards.

Lin yelled to Takigawa and Ayako to continue their efforts while he pulled out the amulet that Naru had given him back inside the hospital. In all honesty, Lin had not even begun to think of how to destroy the amulet.

Martin walked over to the crouching Chinese man to see what it was that was the cause of the problem.

"Ah bloody hell…" Martin said under his breath.

"What is it?" Lin asked completely worried now.

"The only safe way to get rid of this amulet is by using a priest, a priest such a John. Seeing as he's in Australia, there is only one person here who could actually destroy it, which in all honesty, I would truly like to avoid. Seeing as we have no choice though…" Martin was interrupted by the annoyed Chinese man.

"Will you please stop talking in riddles and tell me what it is… I swear… Gene must have gotten his riddle talk from you."

"Okay… the only person who can destroy this is Oliver. And the only way he can destroy it is by using his PK. Now if Eugene were here then it would be no problem. Seeing as he's not here, that means that Oliver will go into heart failure and could…" Martin hesitated. He did not want to actualize what it was that he was thinking.

Lin did it for him, "He could die…"

"Exactly, but like I said, we have not choice. None of us has the amount of PK that Oliver does."

Both Martin and Lin looked over to where Naru was now laying on his back from the exhaustion of holding onto Mai.

"YOU GUYS…. WE WON'T BE ABLE TO HOLD THE DEMON BACK FOR LONG. WHATEVER IT IS YOUR PLANNING, HURRY UP AND DO IT OR WE ALL WILL BE DEAD ALONG WITH ALL OF HUMANITY!" Monk yelled out clearly becoming tired from his battle.

Martin stood up and quickly walked over to where his wife was sitting with his son and the passed out Mai.

"Noll, there is something that I have to ask of you, something that I have told you never to do. Now, there seems to be no choice in the matter." Martin looked at his wife, knowing well that she would become irate with him when he stated his plan.

"I need you to use your PK to destroy this amulet, and when you do, you will need to do it when the full moon is completely uncovered by the clouds. If there is the slightest bit of cloud covering, it won't work. Do you understand?"

Before Luella could even go against what her husband was insinuating, Naru replied, standing up as he did so.

"Of course I'll do it." Naru took the stone out of Lin's hand, pausing only slightly before passing the tall Chinese man's figure.

"I'll be counting on you to bring me back. If not… expect your shiki's to be completely out of their minds. I will be haunting you."

Lin let out a slight smirk, "Don't I always?"

Naru moved forwards towards the battle that both Ayako and Takigawa were now beginning to lose.

Naru looked back one last time at Mai who was starting to stir.

She propped herself up on her forearms looking over where Naru was standing. Mai was still drowsy but that did not mean that she could not understand what it was that Naru had just said to her.

"I love you."

Looking up, Naru watched as the clouds fully moved away from the moon, leaving its color to completely shine down on the team.

Naru pulled the power from the air around him. He could feel the spirit partials gathering in his body, giving him an eerie glow.

The demon looked away from the two participants who had been ruthlessly battling it. It noticed what Naru was about to do. Its plan would be foiled. Ignoring the chants that were now cutting deep into its being, the demon threw itself at Naru. Before it could even touch him though, Naru focused all his energy on the amulet. The amulet shattered sending shards deep into his skin. Both the demon and Naru were pushed back in opposite directions from the blast of PK

The demon screamed, light bursting out of it from every part of its body. The demon dissipated into the night air.

All was quite as the team watched Naru standing completely still as though contemplating what he had just done.

Mai, who had not yet passed out again from the immense tired feeling in her body let out a one name whimper, tears flowing down her face.

"N…Naru…"

Naru turned to look at the young girl still slightly lying on the ground, being held up by Masako.

He smiled; blood falling from the cuts on his skin, then fell to his knees followed quickly by falling onto his chest with a muffled thump.

Lin, Ayako, Martin, and Yasuhara all rushed to the collapsed teen. Luella was sobbing deeply and loudly.

Masako was also crying slow tears but was also too busy holding onto a screaming Mai in order to cover her falling tears.

Martin ordered Yasuhara to go and get the doctors while Lin began to do everything in his power to cause the teen's stopped heart to begin pumping blood again. It was difficult though seeing as the power that Naru had used had built up inside his chest causing every pump that Lin produced to push against him.

For Mai though, everything went quite. All she could here was the thumping of her heart in her chest. 'He said he loved me…then he…he…' she could not bring herself to say it. Everything stayed quite for her, even as the medical team rushed onto the hospital's roof top. She could feel herself begin to lose it, both mentally and physically. She was tired. She was scared, she was hurt. All the feelings of being alone on the planet began to flow into her.  
The moon slowly moved back behind its covering again, making shadow cross over both the SPR team and the medical team that had finally made it over to the dark clad teen.

An agonized cry echoed through the air as Mai screamed out Naru's name.

A/N: I'm a bad person aren't I, leaving you with so many cliff hangers? No need to worry though, I plan to write the next chapter right now.

Hopefully this chapter was to your liking. At the beginning, I was not completely sure how to destroy the demon. I must say, even though I was not planning on having Naru be the one to destroy it, it still came out okay.

Naru finally said what his feelings are for Mai. and right before he dies from use of PK too. So, do you think Naru is dead or not. I guess that depends on how heartless you think I am.

anyways,

forward ho to the next chapter. :D


	18. Chapter 16 Something Like that

_**so, here is the deal... the next chapter has been trapped inside my dead computer. so until my computer has been raised from the dead, I'll have to start on the next story. only problem with that is that I don't know what to name it yet. Good news is that I've written two chapters so far. :D**_

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**A/N:**

**This chapter is not as exciting as the other chapters that you have just read mostly because it is the second to last chapter. Next chapter, the OMAKE, will be the end. I want to thank each and everyone of my repliers but here are the ones that I was able to mention**

DEDICATIONS AT END OF CHAPTER (to everyone who replied at least once or more.)

**I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT!**

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**Chapter Sixteen**

Thump…Thump Thump…. Thump…Thump…. Thump Thump…

Mai could not stand it, listening to the sounds of her own heart when she knew that it was quite possible that the one she loved might not even have a heart beat left

Why was it that Naru did that for her? Why couldn't he just let her go…? 'He said he loved me…' WHY?

Mai was huddled in the dark. Well, not complete dark seeing as spirit partials had begun to float around her a couple of minutes ago. Mai saw a figure walking up to her. At least she saw the pulsating figure walking up to her. Her head was pounding. Should she really be feeling headaches while in the spirit world?

The figure walked closer to her and for a second, she felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"Don't worry Mai, it just me… that idiot scientist has not found his way here… yet." Gene said with a weary smile that slowly fell from his face. He had gone to the Five Ghosts only to be told in a very annoying way that what happened on earth was of no consequence to him in the spirit world. What made it even worse was the fact that all five ghosts said it at the exact same time. Not really giving him a chance to argue the fact.

Mai slowly felt her heart begin to make its climb back into its proper place. As long as Gene said he was not here, she would not try and jump to conclusions. Though, Gene did not make her feel any better with the way he seemed unsure of his brother's fate.

Gene sighed and sat down next to the closed in Mai. She had still not said a word to him. He had been worried about her for some time now. Worried about how her visions and dreams had changed. Worried that she would die and he would not be able to protect her. How would his brother feel then?

Gene scooted closer to Mai and placed his arm around her shoulder. It was strange for him to actually touch someone. The last time he had done something like this was when he was leaving to Japan to do his research. His brother had protested but Gene was not about to leave without at least some type of good bye. So, Gene had hugged Naru. Naru was not used to the feeling of being hugged. Sure, their mother had hugged them when they were younger but that was then. Naru felt that once you got to a certain age in your life, hugs and kisses were just a trivial part of life, something that did not have to be done so often, or as he would like to think of it, ever.

Mai leaned into his figure and buried her eyes in his shirt.

"Gene…. He told me he loves me…." Mai's shoulders began to shake with the motions of her sobs.

Gene's arm paused its rubbing of her back at the revelation of what Mai had just said.

"Why are you crying then?" Gene asked resuming his comforting motion with his hand on her back.

"What if he dies? What if when he wakes up he can't remember he said that he loved me. What if it was all a dream and it never happened? There are so many what ifs that I can't handle it all. What if he did not mean it? I mean really… think about it … what has he ever done that showed that he cared for me… he's treated me like I'm an idiot. He uses me for my dreams and for my tea… he is a narcissistic self serving over confident…."

The sound of a slap echoed through the spirit world sending spirit particles flying each and every direction.

Gene looked at his hand which hung in mid air as though it was the spawn of some demon.

Mai held her hand up to her cheek, tears still falling down her face.

"Mai… I want you to really think, do you really think that Naru has done nothing for you. That he has never shown you how he cares. OF COURSE HE HAS…. He's just a stupid scientist who knows the best way to hide his emotions is to act as though he cares only for himself... Mai…, who is it that always saves you when you are in trouble. Who is it that asks you what your dreams are about? And let me tell you something, it's not just so that he can solve the case. He asks because he wants to make sure that nothing severely bad happens to you while you're dreaming. When he found out that I was your spirit guide. Do you really think he was okay with that? Sure, he figured that it meant that you had more protection, but he also was jealous. That is why he said that you loved me and not him when he was heading back to England. He was jealous, jealous of you ending up with me." Gene was inhaling and exhaling hard now. It was not like he actually needed to breathe but it was just something that he normally did.

"So, then he loves me… but… that still does not change the fact that he could die." Naru said still crying.

"Mai, anyone can die, I know that it is a harsh concept but it's something that if you're going to stay in this business your going to have to realize. Time is very important concept. It is exactly like an hour glass. One moment you have tones of sand at your disposal, and at the next, you have none whatsoever."

Mai nodded as though she understood the concept.

"Gene, do you think he will still be there when I wake up?" Mai asked hesitantly

"I don't know Mai; all you can do is try. What I do know though is that my mom and dad are still down there. So is the rest of SPR. They are all waiting for you to wake up. It's your decision now if you do so."

Mai nodded and closed her eyes feeling the weight of Gene's hand on her back slowly begin to disappear.

"I'll always be here for you Mai, no matter what happens." Gene's voice sounded in her head.

Mai could now here the steady beeping of a heart monitor, her heart monitor. She could also hear the sound of quite snores of someone sleeping.

She wanted to laugh but did not want to ruin seeing what the room was like before everyone attacked her.

Slowly, Mai lifted one of her eyelids. It was a very blurry experience. Finally she was able to see the white painted walls, the tan yet still white linoleum floors. Sitting on the sides of the walls were blue cushion chairs. On those chairs sat a very tired looking monk. On the other side of her was a boy. A boy she had not seen in quite a while.

"Ayden… what are you doing here? Shouldn't you have already passed on?" Mai asked quietly trying not to wake the Monk. She did not want him to do anything unnecessary to the boy.

"Well, it's just that… well… I wanted to say sorry… you know, for starting all the fires and for hurting your arm and… well for everything." Ayden said looking in Mai's eyes with as much sincerity a little boy could have in them.

"You don't have to apologize, Ayden. It's not like I blame you for it at all. You were being controlled by the demon. It's not like it was by your own free will." Mai said letting out a tired yawn.

Ayden smiled. Well, I was here to apologize and also to say that the spirits of Hosei Point are now at rest. Well at least almost all of them. I'm the last one." He smiled again, but then the smile faded. "I know that you forgive me, but do you think Gene will?"

"Yes Ayden, I do. I think Gene would forgive you. Though like I said, you don't need to apologize for anything."

Ayden smiled and for the last time, he said good bye.

The curtain of the hospital room blew slightly as Ayden disappeared. The next sound Mai heard was a certain college student walk into the hospital room with something that smelled suspiciously like a meatball sandwich.

"Nice Yasuhara, bring food like that into the room of a girl who can only eat hospital food." Mai said sarcastically

Yasuhara almost dropped one of the meatballs out of the sandwich at the sound of Mai's voice.

"Oh, wow, you're awake… never expected that…" Yasuhara looked sheepishly at his sandwich… "Um… I was actually bringing this for you…" he looked at the sandwich longingly

"Nah, go ahead and eat it, I'm actually not really hungry… mostly tired… um… where is everyone?" Mai asked closing her eyes for a short moment.

"Well, as you can see…" Yasuhara took a large bite of his sandwich then continued to speak after he swallowed, "Monk is snoring away in that chair over there, and Ayako and Masako have gone to their places to get some more clothes. Lin is probably typing away at his laptop, and Martin and Luella are most likely in their son's room. Or more aptly put, or bosses room. Quite a fighter he is really but you know…" Yasuhara was not able to finish his sentence as Mai quickly threw her covers off of her and ran toward the room she had no clue how to find.

Luckily for Mai though, she found Lin sitting directly outside of the room she was looking for.

Lin stood up quickly when he saw that it was that was coming towards the room. In fact, he was actually waiting for this to happen.

"MAI, STOP!" His voice was going to do nothing to stop her from getting to her destination.

Though, just because his voice would not stop her did not mean that his body would not.

Lin grabbed onto the young teenage girl and wrapped his arms around her body.

Mai fell to the floor crying.

"Lin, please, let me through… I need to see him…" Tears were flowing down Mai's face.

Lin continued to hold onto Mai trying to get her to calm down. He did not want her to injure herself any more than she had already done. In fact, he could already see that her stitches had pulled and she was now slowly bleeding through her sleeve.

"Mai… Listen to me…" Lin tried to be tough on the girl, though he knew that she did have a point in wanting to see the teenage boy.

Mai calmed down, mainly because she realized that Lin was not going to let her go, but also because she was tired and had realized that she would no longer be able to get anywhere unless it was with Lin's help.

Yasuhara had finally caught up, closely followed by a harried looking Monk. Yasuhara's shirt was now covered in meatball sauce.

"Mai, I can't let you go in there… not just yet okay… you'll have to wait just a little while. Do you understand me?" Lin was now applying pressure to Mai's shoulder in order to stop the bleeding.

Mai did not reply. She felt helpless. If it was Naru, he would have done anything to make sure she was okay.

Takigawa bent down to where Mai was now leaning her weight on Lin.

"Mai, we need to take you back to your room." He leaned down to pick Mai up when a sound from the room caught each and everyone of their ear's.

"Father… I've told you, I'm okay. Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like to go and make sure my assistant is okay."

The sound of bed pans falling to the ground along with Luella's cries of protest and Martins gruff stern voice asking Naru to be reasonable made its way through the hospital rooms door.

Takigawa who had been trying to pick Mai up was now finding it way to difficult not to laugh his head off.

Ayako, and Masako had found their way over to the group only to look back and forth between the door and Lin who was still trying to hold Mai's shoulder so that it would not bleed.

Soon, the group outside the door found the door in front of them being thrown open to show a narcisist teenager who was fond of the color black now in a white hospital gown.

"Now Oliver, be reasonable." Came Luella's voice as she followed her son.

"You just woke up after having heart failure, you can't expect to be able to push yourself." Martin argued trying to push his way out along with his wife.

Naru was no longer listening to his parents, nor was he really realizing that the rest of the SPR team had broken off laughing at his appearance in white. All he had eyes for was Mai… In Lin's arms….

Naru strode forward to the young girl who was now staring, blush and all, at the boy. He bent over and pulled Mai up into a cradle hold. His face, as always, was still as calm and collected as ever though. He began to walk back to his room when he turned to look at his flabbergasted team mates.

"I don't remember saying that this was a meeting hall. it's a hospital… go make yourselves useful." Naru then shut the door behind him and walked over to the his bed where he placed Mai on it. He then began to look around the room for something.

Mai continued to hold a blush on her face. She watched Naru move back and forth through the room gathering up items. She held her hand to her shoulder hoping that the pain would go away soon. She did not want to miss anything that Naru was doing.

"Here, move your hand." Mai complied noticing that Naru had found gauze and medical tape. "You're going to want to get it re-stitched later." Naru said while wrapping it up as tight as he could without hurting it any more than it already did.

"Um… Naru…. Thank you…" Mai looked down at her hands that were busy rubbing roughly onto each other.

The silence was way to loud for Mai. She looked up to see Naru still watching her intently. It was to strange for her so she turned her head to the right to avoid having him see her blush.

'does he really love me?' Mai wondered. It was such a new and foreign concept. She could just not figure out what Naru would be like if he was in love. Would he be the same… would he changed? She did not really want him to change just for her. What she had grown to love was his own personality. She did not want his personality changing just because his feelings had changed for her. Or did they change… was Gene correct in saying that Naru had loved her for a very long time. If that was so then…

"Mai, look at me…" came Naru's rough voice.

Mai quickly looked at Naru, who was still staring at her.

"Naru… on the roof… did you mean it… and if you did… then…" Mai was interrupted by Naru gently placing his hands on the sides of her face and giving her a soft but short kiss. Naru pulled back slowly to see Mai's brown eyes staring back at him wide open. Her mouth, which he had just kissed was still slightly open and she was not breathing. Or at least, if she was breathing, it was very irregular.

"You can breath you know. Or are you to much of an idiot to know how to breath after something like that?" Naru asked with a smirk. On the inside though, Naru was as breathless as Mai. Had he actually just kissed her. What would she think. Would she hate him. Did he just make the worst decision in his life or… or… for the first time in his life, he was not able to come up with an answer.

"something….something like that… WOULD YOU CALL THAT KISS JUST A SOMETHING? NARU… YOU KISSED ME…. HOW COULD THAT BE A 'something like that'" Mai was blushing a complete red now. Mostly from embarrassment but also from anger. "IF YOUR GOING TO CATOGORIZE IT AS 'SOMETHING LIKE THAT' THEN YOU WON'T HAVE A PROBLEM IF I DO THIS THEN WILL YOU?"

Mai grabbed Naru's face and kissed him back. Naru was surprised that she had actually done it.

Mai pulled away slowly and saw the blue colored eyes looking straight at her.

"s.… um… now do you believe that you can classify that kiss as, 'something like that'" Mai asked nervously.

The only reply that Naru had for her was a smile. Luckily for him, a smile was all he needed to get Mai to blush.

Naru loved Mai's blushes.

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**A/N:**

_Remind me never to do another romance. If I write anything with Mai and Naru again, it will still be with them as a pairing but most likely nothing to serious. I'll leave the serious stuff to you guys. UGH…. This is horrible._

_Anyways… besides the actual 'Mai and Naru getting together' I hope that you liked it._

_Oh, by the way, this is not over yet. There is still the OMAKE. Which I hope will be posted soon but I don't know yet. Anyways, the next chapter will be the end of the story. Then I will be starting another one. At some point in the future._

_****__This chapter is dedicated to: _

_xSapphirexRosesxFanx _

_Jade Starlight_

_BloodyXan-Xan_

_Ariana Taniyama_

_dayis_

_SnowSisters_

_XXBluefangXx_

_Deceitful-Hope_

_Krissy2lip_

_Aktaiy_

_cirquegirl81_

_Melovepickles16_

_Missangel87_

_Meresdreams_

_Adcloud_

_Cross-Pixie-KiKi_

_Melodyann75_

_Animeamd_

_HunnyBunnyChan_

_choco-rose_

_Sweetymai90_

_Animuze_

_Shortygurl2_

_Evilloser_

_Sakura2112_

_ChibiKyuubi-Chan_

_Crazylittlecheezer_

_xdreamernumbuhfour _

_SuperGalGene348_

_Moons-Chan_

_aniAngelxx, _


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